The three deputies of the Parti Québécois on Tuesday became the first elected officials in the history of Quebec to sit in the Blue Room without having taken the oath to the British monarch, a “victory” in the eyes of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
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“Sometimes there are things that seem impossible, basically we are told that it is superfluous, and then we realize that with a little perseverance we do things that bring people together and remind us of the experience of democracy,” declared the leader of the PQ as he climbed the stairs to the Blue Room.
To give the event a historical resonance, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and MP Pascal Bérubé wore the patriot flag in his buttonhole.
“It is a symbolic gesture in this evolution of our history. We have a thought for all the generations of Quebecers before us who fought for these rights,” he said.
The other PQ deputy, Joël Arseneau, wore a small Acadian flag on his jacket, in memory of the Acadians who “were deported because of their refusal to swear an oath to the King of England,” said explained Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The leader of the PQ will take advantage of his first intervention in the chamber to table a motion asking that the National Assembly recognize “the right of Quebec to determine its own future” and that “Quebec is a free people and capable of assuming its destiny and its development. The party can also ask a question in the chamber tomorrow.
Last fall, the three elected members of the PQ came up against the closed doors of the Blue Room when they tried to enter it without having taken the oath to King Charles III.
A few days later, the Legault government tabled a bill to abolish the obligation to swear allegiance to the King of England, and ensure that only the oath of allegiance to the people of Quebec is mandatory. The elected officials adopted it in the very last hours of the parliamentary session, thus postponing the entry of the PQ deputies to January 31.
Only a handful of parliamentarians were in the room to experience this historic moment, which lasted only a few minutes.
“We are turning the page on something that was unacceptable. We fixed it in just 12 minutes. It’s a bit of a metaphor for independence in my eyes, because what sometimes seems very difficult is done well and quickly, and there is no one who is going to want to go back, “said the PQ leader before to push open the door and finally enter the Blue Room.