Paul St. Pierre Plamondon says he encountered his most hostile audience 'by far' in England

Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaks at the National Assembly, Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. The Parti Quebecois MNAs were finally allowed to sit after a special legislation was passed to let them sit without swearing the oath of office to the King. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon met "by far" his most hostile audience during his European tour, which officially ends Saturday.

In front of a British audience, he spoke about the end of the compulsory oath to King Charles III for the elected members of Quebec's national assembly, and it was not easy.

That's what he concluded in an interview with The Canadian Press published Saturday.

The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) gave a speech at Nuffield College, Oxford University, where he himself once studied.

"I can't say the reception was warm," he said, holding back a laugh.

"It was by far the most hostile forum I've encountered, but still of a high intellectual level, so the questions were critical of my politics, but at the same time respectful, intelligent, so it honestly provoked some good discussion."

The same issue has generated much interest over in Scotland, ruled by a pro-independence government, where St. Pierre Plamondon also passed through on his tour.

"In Scotland there was a passion for the issue of the oath to the King," said St-Pierre Plamondon, who gave interviews to three of Scotland's four major newspapers. "Really, it was as much a part of the journalists' discussions as independence."

Members of the Scottish parliament must swear an oath to the monarch once elected, as must members of Quebec's national assembly -- until December.

The three Parti Québécois (PQ) MNAs refused to take the mandatory oath after the October election and were therefore barred from sitting until the other parties passed a law in December making the oath optional.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 4, 2023.