MONTREAL — The mixed reactions in Quebec to the death of Queen Elizabeth II highlight the province’s complex relationship with the monarchy.
In the days after the Queen’s death, incumbent Premier Francois Legault — who is currently on the campaign trail ahead of an Oct. 3 election — has faced questions about whether the province should now eliminate the position of lieutenant governor, as well as criticism from the Parti Quebecois for lowering the Quebec flag to half mast in honour of the late queen.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
While Quebecers may respect the late queen as an individual, the monarchy brings up memories of the British conquest of New France and British colonial rule over French-speaking Canada, said Bouchard, who studies national myths. The monarchy was imposed on the people of Quebec by conquest, he said, while the provincial flag, known as the fleurdelise, represents both the right of Quebecers to exist as a people and the province’s democracy.
Legault, who accused St-Pierre Plamondon of “petty politics,” faced questions from journalists who wondered if Quebec would use the opportunity to get rid of the office of lieutenant-governor. But it’s not just in Quebec where the popularity of the monarchy has been slipping, said Benoit Pelletier, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa and a former cabinet minister in the Quebec Liberal government of Jean Charest.Article content“I think that over the coming months there will be a debate on the future of the constitutional monarchy,” he said, adding that he expects it will eventually lead to a referendum on the issue.
While there have been expressions of republicanism in Quebec’s history, it would be a mistake to conclude that Quebec has always rejected the monarchy, said Marc Chevrier, a political science professor at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal.
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