QS also determined not to take royal oath
Québec solidaire – which has more seats than the PQ now, 11 to 3 – is now also planning to refuse the royal oath. François Legault has called his caucus to order, saying it’s all one big happy family.
On radio this morning I heard some idea that Quebec could decide not to use the oath, but can it, while Quebec is still part of Canada? Like it or not, Charles III is head of state of Canada, of which Quebec is still a constituent part.
The oath to Charles is not a promise to polish his shoes, it’s an oath to the sovereign as symbol of the state.
PatrickC 09:36 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
QS and the PQ say they want to swear an oath to the people, but that’s significantly different from an oath to uphold constitutional legality. The distinction is clearer in the American system (flawed as it obviously is) than it is in Canada, but that’s the result of poor education and facile rhetoric.
qatzelok 11:14 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
“The oath to Charles is not a promise to polish his shoes…”
Maybe not. But it puts non-royals (even governing non-royals) on the same class level as shoeshine boys.
Kate 11:16 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
Only if you believe in fairy tales, qatzelok.
Ian 19:37 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
Either you believe in the divine right of monarchy, or monarchy is a scam. There’s no in-between.
If you do believe that monarchy is valid, then they actually are better than all of the rest of us by birthright and yes, you are swearing an oath of fealty. Refusing to swear an oath to a king is not a betrayal of a country unless you believe the country is in fact an extension of not just the monarch’s power, but their effective identity as that which gives authority to the state itself.
As Louis XIV said, “L’État, c’est moi”.
Tim S. 22:40 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
Fun fact: there have been elected monarchs. In Poland, for example, or the Holy Roman Empire.
Kevin 22:52 on 2022-10-19 Permalink
Ian
You can think whatever you want about the Oath of allegiance, but the only thing that matters is how it is defined in Canadian law, and it is most definitely not an oath of fealty.