Quebec’s Lieutenant Governor, Manon Jeannotte, agreed not to take part in Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony of the new Parti Québécois government ministers, at the request of Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
According to the Constitution, ministers must take an oath before the lieutenant-governor, who is the representative of King Charles III in Quebec and who officially appoints them, on the recommendation of the premier.
But the PQ leader had already made it known during the election campaign that he wanted to do without it, in accordance with his independence convictions and his intention to get rid of the monarchical institutions inherited from British colonialism.
On Monday, the new primer sent a letter to Jeannotte to formalize his request and she agreed to give in, a government spokesperson confirmed.
On Monday evening, The Canadian Press asked the office of the lieutenant governor to validate this information but did not receive confirmation.
Will the appointments be valid? Yes, assures the government, which will put a procedure in place.
During the ceremony, which will be held in the Red Room of Parliament, the Secretary General of the Government will attend the swearing-in ceremony.
Subsequently, the appointment documents, which require Jeannotte’s signature to come into effect, will be sent to the Lieutenant Governor, whose office is located behind the National Assembly, for her to sign immediately, on the same day.
This is how St-Pierre Plamondon summarized in his letter the formalities that will be developed.
He also reiterates that he has the “firm intention of abolishing this monarchy in Quebec, both in our democratic institutions and in our civil society” and affirms that a “foreign sovereign” has “no democratic legitimacy”.
Finally, he emphasizes to Jeannotte that this “implies no lack of respect towards you personally.”
During the election campaign, St-Pierre-Plamondon had already pledged to stop Quebec’s contribution to the funding of the Lieutenant Governor’s office, namely $1.3 million which would instead be allocated to the fight against homelessness.
He had also suggested that lawyers would be “in charge of evaluating the scenarios” so that the function of lieutenant governor, who also sanctions all laws, could be entrusted to an “entity to be reinvented”.
Two oaths
Ministers must take two oaths. There is the oath of office, by which the minister declares that he will fulfill “the duties of his office as minister, with honesty and justice”.
But also, in a second oath, he pledges to respect the confidentiality of the cabinet’s deliberations.
He declares under oath that he will perform the duties of his office as a member of the Executive Council with “honesty and justice” and that he will not disclose “without being duly authorized” anything which he has learned in the exercise of his office.
Last April, when Premier Christine Fréchette unveiled her cabinet, Jeannotte delivered a speech and the ministers took the oath of office before the Secretary General and Clerk of the Executive Council, then signed the official register.
Shared financing
Ottawa and Quebec share the funding for the lieutenant governor.
The lieutenant governor’s salary and pension are paid by the federal government, while the province assumes a portion of the expenses of his office.
Therefore, it is the Executive Council ministry in Quebec that finances the salaries of the cabinet support staff, the security costs and use of official vehicles, the current operating expenses and official activities.
Ottawa, for its part, provides an annual subsidy, which is used to cover costs related to administration, official travel and hospitality, which are not covered by the provinces.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
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