Parti Québécois Barred From Quebec Legislature After Refusing to Take Oath to King

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, centre, speaks to the sergeant-at-arms Véronique Michel, who prevented the three PQ elected members to enter the Blue Room at the legislature in Quebec City, Dec. 1, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot

The three recently elected Parti Québécois members who have steadfastly refused to swear the oath of office to the King were barred today from taking their seats in the legislature.

PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and the two other members of his caucus were followed by journalists up to the doors of the legislature chamber—known as the Blue Room—and were blocked from entering by the sergeant-at-arms.

Inside the chamber, Speaker Nathalie Roy told the other members—all of whom swore allegiance to King Charles III after the Oct. 3 provincial election—that her decision to forbid the PQ from entering was final and could not be appealed.

To sit, elected Quebec members must take two oaths of loyalty: one to the Quebec people and another to the King.

St-Pierre Plamondon has said that swearing an oath of office to the “King of England” is humiliating.

Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters earlier today that his government would table a motion next week to abolish the oath to the King.