No Oath = No Access

From the CBC:

“PQ denied entry to Quebec's National Assembly after refusing to swear oath to King”

(Three Parti Québécois (PQ) MNAs, including the party's leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, have been denied entry to Quebec's legislature.)

Three Parti Québécois (PQ) MNAs were denied entry to Quebec's legislature on Thursday after refusing to swear an oath to to King Charles III, Canada's monarch. To sit in the National Assembly, MNAs must swear an oath to the King and one to the Quebec people. The PQ only did the latter. When they approached the doors to the Blue Room on Thursday, the members were stopped by a constable and told they were not eligible to enter. Véronique Michel, the sergeant-at-arms, briefly stepped out to speak with them. PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon explained that they had sworn the oath to the Quebec people — but they were still denied entry.  There was no confrontation. St-Pierre Plamondon said he wanted to carry out a solemn and respectful gesture and said the sergeant-at-arms was just doing her job. "We're making progress," he said, saying they did everything they could short of swearing the oath. All the elected Quebec political parties have agreed the requirement should be scrapped.

Speaker stands by decision

(Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, centre, speaks to National Assembly sergeant-at-arms Véronique Michel who prevented the three Parti Québécois elected MNAs to enter the Salon Bleu to sit at the legislature in Quebec City, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. The PQ MNAs refused to swear to the King when they were sworn in. St-Pierre Plamondon is flanked by Pascal Bérubé, left, and Joël Arseneau.)

As St-Pierre Plamondon waited outside, Speaker Nathalie Roy was on the other side of the door, reading out a statement regarding her decision to deny the PQ entry. She reiterated a previous ruling made by her predecessor, former Speaker François Paradis, citing the Act respecting the National Assembly, the Quebec law that stipulates one must swear allegiance to Canada's head of state to participate in parliamentary proceedings. "This is not a question of opinion, but rather, the state of the law," Roy said.  "It's not up to the Speaker to change the rule. That role belongs to you, the MNAs, as legislators who were elected by the Quebec population." Quebec Premier François Legault, speaking before the incident, said every elected official has to follow the rules. "I don't like swearing the oath to the King," Legault said Thursday. "I think we're all in agreement that the requirement should be abolished." Legault said allowing the PQ members in without following proper procedure could have had consequences. The laws they're voting on could potentially be contested, he said. "The priority right now is to work to help Quebecers fight inflation. If the PQ has a different priority, that's their choice," he said.

Change to law likely coming The PQ isn't the only party whose members didn't want to swear the oath. Québec Solidaire (QS) did not include an oath to the King during their MNAs' swearing-in ceremonies, until it became clear they wouldn't be allowed entry. The QS MNAs swore the oath — behind closed doors — but said they would work to change the requirement as soon as possible. They presented a bill to that effect Thursday. Legault said his Coalition Avenir Québec party will put forward a bill to change the law next week.

^ Obviously this was a Political Stunt. As long as Canada has a Monarch and as long as Quebec (or any other Province or Territory) remain part of Canada the Politicians will have to continue to swear an Oath of Allegiance to that Monarch to legally serve. I don’t see any of that changing anytime soon. ^

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pq-denied-entry-1.6670622