National Assembly opposition parties slam CAQ’s Quebec constitution draft

Minister of Justice and Canadian Relations Simon Jolin-Barrette’s draft constitution for Quebec has met with unanimous opposition in the National Assembly.

All three opposition parties have strongly criticized the government’s approach.

Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez said it was created through a “flawed process.”

“This is a project that should seek to unite, not divide. That means we shouldn’t have a draft written on a piece of paper and then brought before the National Assembly to be part of a political debate where it will become polarized,” he said at a news conference Tuesday. “A constitution must be a project that unites.”

Rodriguez added he was in favour of the idea of a Quebec constitution.

In a video posted Monday on social media, Jolin-Barrette said he would table his draft Quebec constitution in the coming days to “strengthen” the province’s autonomy and institutions.

“This constitution will be both the mirror and the shield of the Quebec nation. It will reflect Quebec as we have received it from previous generations and as it should be tomorrow: proud, strong, and united,” he said.

Jolin-Barrette’s initiative follows the work of the Advisory Committee on Constitutional Issues, which tabled its report last November.

The report’s first recommendation was to give Quebec a constitution with the aim of increasing the province’s autonomy within Canada. The committee also stated that “the process must be non-partisan.”

According to Pablo Rodriguez, it would be a “historic mistake” to adopt this constitution without the support of the other parties in the National Assembly.

No need for a ‘provincial constitution’

Québec Solidaire also opposes the CAQ’s constitutional project.

“We don’t need a constitution written in Simon Jolin-Barrette’s office, a provincial constitution,” Ruba Ghazal said at a press conference on Tuesday.

QS is proposing instead a constituent assembly whose mandate would be to draft the constitution of a Quebec nation. It would then hold a referendum on independence.

According to Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the adoption of a Quebec constitution will change nothing as long as Quebec remains part of the Canadian federation.

“If we just pass a law in Quebec and then put the word ‘constitution’ on it, the legal reality is that it will not generate any additional autonomy for Quebec. It doesn’t change anything in terms of our powers. Nor does it change anything in terms of abuse of power under the Canadian constitution,” he argued. “In short, it means that the federal government will continue to interfere in Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction.”

The PQ, for its part, is committed to implementing “a transitional constitution as soon as it comes to power.”

This will then lead to “consultations with other parties, civil society, and First Nations with a view to drafting Quebec’s permanent constitution once Quebec’s independence has been proclaimed.”

The PQ is expected to make its constitutional proposal public in the coming weeks as part of the presentation of the chapters of its blue book.

This article by The Canadian Press was first published in French Oct. 7, 2025.