The constitution of Quebec comprises a set of legal rules that arise from the following categories: [1]
The Parliament of Quebec has the power to modify certain parts of Quebec's provincial constitution, while certain other parts can only be modified by going through the process of amending the Constitution of Canada. [2]
Quebec has on several occasions discussed the possibility of gathering the scattered elements making up its constitution into a single text of law, but never went forward. During the 1969 National assizes of the Estates General of French Canada, the Quebec delegates adopted a resolution proposing that "Quebecers give themselves a written constitution." [8]
More recently, in his speech before the 2007 congress of the Association québécoise de droit constitutionnel, former Liberal Quebec Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Benoît Pelletier stated:
"One of the first questions to answer naturally pertains to the content of a future fundamental text of law which Quebec could adopt. In 2001, the committee I chaired listed some possible elements for a consolidation of the fundamental rules governing Quebec. Generally speaking, our committee suggested that such a document could contain all the elements, currently dispersed, which form the material constitution of Quebec." [9]
This "material constitution" could include, according to Pelletier: [9]
On October 18, 2007, constitutional law professor and Parti Québécois opposition MNA Daniel Turp introduced Bill 196, a proposed Quebec Constitution, into the National Assembly. [14] The bill did not pass the first reading.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, also known in English as St John the Baptist Day, is a holiday celebrated on June 24 in the Canadian province of Quebec and by French Canadians across Canada. It was brought to Canada by French settlers celebrating the traditional feast day of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. It was declared a public holiday in Quebec in 1925, with publicly financed events organized province-wide by a Comité organisateur de la fête nationale du Québec.
The Office québécois de la langue française is a public provincial organization established on 24 March 1961, by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage. Attached to the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, its initial mission, defined in its report of 1 April 1964, was "to align on international French, promote good Canadianisms and fight Anglicisms ... work on the normalization of the language in Quebec and support State intervention to carry out a global language policy that would consider notably the importance of socio-economic motivations in making French the priority language in Quebec".
The flag of Quebec, called the Fleurdelisé, represents the Canadian province of Quebec. It consists of a white cross on a blue background, with four white fleurs-de-lis.
Jacques Parizeau was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996.
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of Quebec is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, the legislature, and cabinet reside.
The Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1975. It received Royal Assent from Lieutenant Governor Hugues Lapointe, coming into effect on June 28, 1976. Introduced by the Liberal government of Robert Bourassa, the Charter followed extensive preparatory work that began under the Union Nationale government of Daniel Johnson.
Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been a movement and a central issue in Quebec politics since the beginning of the 19th century. Québécois nationalism has seen several political, ideological and partisan variations and incarnations over the years.
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs. The King in Right of Quebec, represented by the lieutenant governor of Quebec and the National Assembly compose the Legislature of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other Westminster-style parliamentary systems. The assembly has 125 members elected first past the post from single-member districts.
Jacques-Yvan Morin, is a former professor of law and a politician in Quebec, Canada. Morin graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Law with a BCL in 1953, where he was the founder of the McGill Law Journal. He taught international and constitutional law at Université de Montréal from 1958 until 1973. He was deputy director of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law from 1963 to 1973 and founded the Quebec Journal of International Law in 1984.
Bill 99 is a Quebec law concerning the consequences of any future referendum on independence; it was enacted in 2000 in response to the enactment of the federal Clarity Act by the Parliament of Canada. The full official title of the law is "An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State". It has no formal short title and so is commonly referred to as "Bill 99", the designation under which it was introduced in the Quebec legislature by the Parti Québécois.
Cyprien Tanguay was a French Canadian priest and historian.
Quebec law is unique in Canada because Quebec is the only province in Canada to have a juridical legal system under which civil matters are regulated by French-heritage civil law. Public law, criminal law and federal law operate according to Canadian common law.
Daniel Turp is a professor of constitutional and international law at the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served as a Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament (1997–2000) and as a Parti Québécois member of the Quebec National Assembly (2003–2008).
Mouvement Québec français (MQF) is an umbrella group of organisations in favour of the preservation and defence of the French language in Quebec, Canada.
Quebec is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the largest province by area and the second-largest by population. Much of the population of Quebec lives in urban areas along the St. Lawrence River, between its most populous city, Montreal, and the provincial capital, Quebec City. The province is the home of the Québécois nation. Located in Central Canada, the province shares land borders with Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast, and a coastal border with Nunavut; in the south it borders Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York in the United States.
Herbert Marx was a Canadian lawyer, university law professor, politician, and judge. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1979 to 1989, a cabinet minister, and a Justice of the Quebec Superior Court.
Yves Bérubé was a Quebec engineer, politician and multiple-time minister.
The Estates General of French Canada were a series of three assizes held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada between 1966 and 1969. Organized by the Ligue d'action nationale and coordinated by the Fédération des Sociétés Saint-Jean-Baptistes du Québec (FSSJBQ), the stated objective of these Estates General was to consult the French-Canadian people on their constitutional future.
Hélène Pelletier-Baillargeon is a Canadian femme de lettres, journalist, essayist, and biographer from Quebec.