Quebec Solidaire calls on opposition parties to fight Quebec constitution bill

Quebec Solidaire MNA Ruba Ghazal responds to media questions at a news conference, Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Québec Solidaire has stated loud and clear that it will use “all parliamentary means at its disposal” to block the adoption of the Quebec constitution bill in the National Assembly.

Like the other opposition parties, the left-wing party voted against tabling the constitutional bill at the Quebec legislature on Oct. 9.

The opposition parties are criticizing Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette for drafting the constitution without conducting large-scale consultations.

Jolin-Barrette finally agreed last week to hold a general consultation, but Québec Solidaire (QS) is calling it too little, too late.

The party’s co-spokesperson and parliamentary leader, Ruba Ghazal, said she refuses to endorse an “undemocratic process carried out without consulting the public or the opposition parties.”

In a press release issued Monday morning, she called it the duty and responsibility of opposition parties to “block the government when it makes such a mistake.”

“A constitution is, in a way, the birth certificate of a people. We will never forgive the CAQ for spoiling this moment,” she said. “We already had a constitution imposed on us by the federal government in 1982, we’re not going to have a second one imposed on us by the CAQ.”

QS co-spokesperson and parliamentary leader Guillaume Cliche-Rivard said he also believes that “the time for collaboration is over.”

“It is unacceptable to miss this important meeting with history, which is the adoption of a constitution, simply because the CAQ wants to try to revive itself at the end of its term,” he argued.

QS says it has sent a letter to the leaders of the Parti Québécois and the Quebec Liberal Party asking them to present a united front on the issue.

Even though the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has a majority in the National Assembly, opposition parties can use several mechanisms to slow down the progress of a bill through various stages of the parliamentary process.

With its draft constitution, François Legault’s government says it wants to prohibit organizations from using public funds to challenge laws considered fundamental to Quebec, such as Bill 96 on the French language and Bill 21 on state secularism.

It also wants to strengthen gender equality and protect the right to abortion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 20, 2025.