Injunction filed to force incoming PQ government to take oath to King
A legal injunction has been filed in Quebec to force newly elected Parti Québécois members to take an oath to the King. The filing argues that failing to take the oath renders the MNAs constitutionally unqualified to sit in the legislature.
Why it matters
This case highlights a significant constitutional tension in Canada regarding the role of the monarchy and the legitimacy of provincial legislative actions.
The application for an interim stay was filed in Quebec Superior Court by the Public Interest Litigation Institute and its founder, Lawrence David.
David said political parties "regardless of their stripes" are "not at liberty to freely flout the laws that apply to all democratic institutions in Canada.
"That is precisely why we are standing up," David, who teaches at University of Ottawa’s faculty of law, said in an interview.
"We are taking measures using the legal system, which is precisely what the legal system is there for, to ensure that ... governments respect the law that is applicable to them."
The injunction asks the court to immediately suspend a 2022 provincial law that made the oath to the monarch optional for members of the National Assembly. David already filed a lawsuit in August over the same matter.
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