Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) condemns "Constitutional Vandalism" on Department of Justice website

MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) Co-Leaders Myrtis Fossey and Colin Standish today roundly condemned some problematic changes which were recently made to the text of the Constitution of Canada as it appears on the Department of Justice’s official “Justice Laws” website (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/).

The new changes incorporate Quebec's and Saskatchewan's so-called "Constitutional Amendments" into the Department's public text of the Constitution, adding sections from Quebec's provincial Bill 96 to declare that "Quebecers form a nation" and "French shall be the only official language of Quebec."

Both the CAQ Government of Quebec and its Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) opposition support these sections of Bill 96, and embrace the idea that Quebec can unilaterally amend the Constitution of Canada to add new sections, or to prevent application of existing ones within the territory of Quebec.

This position is not supported by the Constitution itself, which does not contain provisions for any province to make unilateral changes to the federal Constitution.

"What's to stop a province from saying 'abortions are banned on our territory'?" asked CaPQ Co-Leader Colin Standish. "It was outrageous enough when the federal government allowed the CAQ to make these claims without actively opposing them. Now, they're actually helping them along."

"These changes to the website give the misleading impression that Bill 96 actually did amend the Constitution," stated Co-Leader Myrtis Fossey. "That is not true, and it's being fought in the courts. It's profoundly disappointing to see the federal government undermining federalist efforts."

Both Co-Leaders called on Canada’s Minister of Justice to have these illegitimate additions removed.

"Constitutional expert Emmett Macfarlane has referred to these illicit alterations of the text as 'Aiding and Abetting Constitutional Vandalism'," said Standish. "We agree.”

“It is not acceptable for Canada's Department of Justice to seem to endorse these false 'amendments'. We call on Minister Virani to have them taken off the web site immediately."

About the CaPQ:

The Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) offers a bold, forward-looking, federalist vision of Quebec to promote a renaissance to make the province a major economic, cultural, and linguistic rights hub of Canada and North America.

Contact information:

Canadian Party of Quebec - Parti canadien du Québec

info@particanadienquebec.ca

CaPQ Press Release_30.July.24-EN MEMBER.docx

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