PQ leader vows to abolish Quebec lieutenant-governor if elected Monday

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says a PQ government would pass a law eliminating Quebec’s lieutenant-governor after Monday’s provincial election, framing the Crown’s representative as an unacceptable leftover of British authority in the National Assembly.

Speaking this week, St-Pierre Plamondon said it is “not normal” for a representative of King Charles III to “tell us what to do,” and argued nothing stops the legislature from abolishing the office’s duties and redirecting the province’s roughly $1.3-million contribution to the lieutenant-governor’s office toward fighting homelessness. The federal government pays the vice-regal salary and pension; Quebec covers part of the office expenses. The PQ is widely expected to win on Oct. 5 and has pledged a sovereignty referendum by 2030 even though support for independence sits below 30 per cent.

Constitutional scholars told The Globe and Mail a unilateral abolition would almost certainly fail. University of Ottawa’s Lawrence David said amending that part of the Constitution requires unanimous consent of Parliament and every province, calling the plan “manifestly unconstitutional” and warning a court loss could be used to argue only separation ends the monarchy. Laval’s Patrick Taillon noted Quebec has long made the Crown “invisible” — short inaugural addresses since 1973, “state” instead of “Crown” in statutes, plans to drop the British crown from the coat of arms — but scrapping the office outright carries a high litigation risk.

St-Pierre Plamondon denied Thursday that he is picking a fight with Ottawa ahead of a referendum he has said would wait until after U.S. President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029. He also said he would ask Lieutenant-Governor Manon Jeannotte not to attend the opening speech if the PQ forms government. For Ottawa and other provinces, the pledge turns a symbolic monarchy debate into a live federal-provincial flashpoint days before Quebeckers vote.

Sources: The Globe and Mail.