In the name of ‘national unity’.That’s how the Québec Liberal Party is selling a plan for the province to adopt its own constitution — as a means of strengthening Confederation, not weakening it.On Monday the party’s policy commission, led by former premier Jean Charest’s son Antoine Dionne Charest, said adopting its own foundational document would be an effective means of circumventing the ‘divisive’ policies of both the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois.“A constitution is not just a piece of paper,” Charest said. “It’s not just a document like any other. It is what unites us against the PQ, for whom immigrants and Canada are the source of all our problems. It’s what protects us against the CAQ, above all from its laws that stigmatize Québeckers who speak a language other than French.”.On Monday, it released a social media video saying a constitution would assert key elements of “who we are” by emphasizing the province’s language laws and Napoleonic Civil Code used in its legal system.In it, the Liberals accused the Bloc of planning to “separate us from Canada” and said such a document would “clearly state the rights and freedoms of all Québeckers, regardless of their origins, beliefs and skills.”According to co-committee member Julie White: “A constitution allows us to affirm who we really are, with our language, our civil law system and the jurisdictions of the government of Québec.”.The constitution proposal was first floated last year as a means of relaunching the party after it was turfed from office in 2014. It presently holds just 21 seats in the province’s National Assembly after being routed in 2022 although it retained official opposition status.The electoral defeat was widely blamed on the collapse of support from francophone Québeckers where it is polling 5% support. The party has been independent of the federal Liberals since 1955 and is considered to be centre-right on the political spectrum.The party has no permanent leader and is expected to choose a new one next June ahead of a provincial election scheduled for October 2026.Although a policy document released last year asserted a constitution ought to assert new powers from the federal government including taking over management of temporary foreign workers and adopting broad taxation powers, it also wants to ensure English speaking rights.“The Québec constitution should affirm Québec’s existence as a nation within the Canadian federation, the status of French as an official and common language, the fundamental rights and freedoms of Quebeckers and the contribution of cultural communities,” the report says.
