Quebec’s attempt to unilaterally amend the Canadian Constitution won’t fly (irpp.org)
The courts are unlikely to allow Quebec’s Bill 96 to make unilateral changes to the Constitution around provincial language rights and nationhood.
07 November 2022
Quebec’s attempt to unilaterally amend the Canadian Constitution won’t fly
EDITORIAL: BQ leader should get his facts right
As if on cue, Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet delivered a caustic speech on Tuesday, condemning the monarchy as “racist” and “archaic,” and brought forward a motion calling for Canada to sever ties with it.
It’s as if he could barely wait for the Queen to be buried before launching an ill-informed and historically inaccurate attack on the Crown.
His casual use of toxic words serves only to inflame divisions within this country instead of seeking ways to make this great, diverse nation work for everyone. He must get his “history” from Netflix.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/editorial-bq-leader-should-get-his-facts-right/ar-AA13uPF5?cvid=b6f74eef96f1423fc8c9e8a0f72b5aca&ocid=winp2sv1plustaskbar&fbclid=IwAR3ciTYfGa2s-OBoFuVUF8HbOjmDURgdUubYhosMVffzBkzDYbsl5bbwp7U
27 October 2022
Macpherson: New bouts of indig-nationalism over flags
A proposed Quebec-anglo flag was a rejection of "the Quebec flag," "all the symbols of the Québécois nation," and "the Québécois people.”
https://theprovince.com/opinion/columnists/macpherson-new-bouts-of-indig-nationalism-over-flags/wcm/b5ce61f2-ad65-4e44-acde-f905c7040823?fbclid=IwAR1TsU9XlkqHwF0qtPSIk97zu1vTiAt1MUmSybkS6dYVfgv-8Axtb89cGqwWhy Québec politicians must swear an oath to the King — even if they don’t want to
Québec Solidaire followed, with the 11 elected members of their party also refusing to swear an oath to the King.
In the wake of this controversy, a number of constitutional experts made comments suggesting that it was possible to refuse taking the oath. They proposed various interpretations and solutions that would, in their view, enable the PQ leader to sit as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) without swearing allegiance to the King. As a constitutional scholar, I do not share this view.
https://theconversation.com/why-quebec-politicians-must-swear-an-oath-to-the-king-even-if-they-dont-want-to-192807?fbclid=IwAR0ERgVbaiWiFSxOO2vZxBmSSb_aF5B8fqCEvHOm6vqj7w7ViREWKWlGBr4
15 September 2022
Opinion: How to ensure immigrant workers stay in Quebec
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/opinion-how-to-ensure-immigrant-workers-stay-in-quebec/ar-AAYxYws?ocid=EMMX&cvid=bcbea8db4550417eb5c8d337b13e0435&fbclid=IwAR00VtYzgkGuWKeaqRiKlatHXLh9tNNn694rRYCvi1feVQUAS3gkxEn09DE
07 September 2022
Legault says he's against multiculturalism because 'it's important to have culture where we integrate'
“It’s important that we don’t put all cultures on the same level; that’s why we oppose multiculturalism,” Legault told reporters Thursday. “We prefer to concentrate on what we call interculturalism, where we have one culture, the Quebec culture, and we try to integrate newcomers. I think new people coming to Quebec add to our culture, but it’s important to have culture where we integrate, especially to our language.”
Legault, who has been asking Ottawa for new powers over the selection of certain immigrants , said his vision of integration is different from that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In his vision, Quebec culture is elevated over the cultures of immigrants and other minorities.
Dany Laferrière et le Québec
https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/03/26/dany-laferriere-et-le-quebec?fbclid=IwAR3VjI1Hej_TKaZ_7e36OTYFNkj3VV0CV_Cw72LS_jGUk4DoA8_YZsr66K4
02 September 2022
Canadians are entitled to legal help to protect their Charter rights
The Court Challenges Program was at the heart of the latest scuffle between Ottawa and Québec. The program provides financial support to Canadians seeking to assert their constitutional language and human rights before the courts.
Upon learning that the program provided federal funding to the English Montreal School Board to challenge the province’s religious symbols ban, Premier Francois Legault accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “insulting” Québecers.
Based on my work on public interest litigation, I believe Legault’s concerns are unfounded. Rather, the funding provided by the Court Challenges Program breathes life into rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
How Québec’s Bill 21 could be vanquished by a rarely used Charter provision
This November, the Québec Court of Appeal will hear an appeal of Hak v. Attorney General of Québec on the constitutionality of Bill 21, which prohibits public service workers from wearing religious symbols.
The trial decision upheld the law in most respects, except for its impact on the management of the province’s minority-language school boards.
Despite the harsh effects of the law — primarily on Muslim women like Grade 3 teacher Fatemeh Anvari, who was removed from a Québec classroom for wearing a hijab — you might think the appeal is bound to fail.
That’s because the Québec National Assembly attempted to shield Bill 21 from Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms by invoking Sec. 33 of the Charter, known as the “notwithstanding clause.”
Sec. 33 allows laws to operate “notwithstanding” certain rights and freedoms contained in the Charter, like the general equality right of Sec. 15 and the freedom of religion right of Sec. 2
How Québec’s Bill 21 could be vanquished by a rarely used Charter provision | National Newswatch