Constitution of Quebec

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The constitution of Quebec comprises a set of legal rules that arise from the following categories: [1]

Contents

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]

Fundamental text

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.

Notes

  1. Jacques-Yvan Morin, José Woehrling, Les constitutions du Canada et du Québec: du régime français à nos jours. Tome premier. Études, 1992, p. 141
  2. 1 2 3 Jacques-Yvan Morin, José Woehrling, Les constitutions du Canada et du Québec: du régime français à nos jours. Tome premier. Études, 1992, p. 142
  3. An Act respecting the National Assembly, R.S.Q. c. A-23.1
  4. Executive Power Act, R.S.Q. c. E-18 Archived 2012-07-30 at archive.today
  5. Election Act, R.S.Q. c. E-3.3
  6. Referendum Act, R.S.Q. c. C-64.1 Archived 2012-08-04 at archive.today
  7. 1 2 3 Jacques-Yvan Morin, José Woehrling, Les constitutions du Canada et du Québec: du régime français à nos jours. Tome premier. Études, 1992, p. 143
  8. Assises nationales, Montréal, 5–9 March 1969, p. 392-399
  9. 1 2 "L'une des premières questions qui se pose est, bien sûr, liée au contenu d'un éventuel texte fondamental dont pourrait se doter le Québec. En 2001, le comité que j'ai présidé énumérait certains éléments possibles d'une consolidation des règles fondamentales gouvernant le Québec. Ainsi, de manière générale, nous suggérions qu'un tel document puisse contenir tous les éléments, actuellement épars, qui forment la constitution matérielle du Québec" — Benoît Pelletier, "La nature quasi constitutionnelle de la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne du Québec et l’idée d’une constitution québécoise", in Bulletin québécois de droit constitutionnel, issue 2, Winter 2007, p. 4
  10. An Act respecting the Ministère des Relations internationales , CQLR 2013, c. M-25.1.1 In force as of November 13, 2013. Assemblée nationale du Québec.
  11. Election Act , CQLR 2017, c. E-3.3 In force as of January 1, 2017. Assemblée nationale du Québec.
  12. Referendum Act , CQLR 2000, c. C-64.1 In force as of March 15, 2000. Assemblée nationale du Québec.
  13. Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State , CQLR 2001, c. E-20.2 In force as of February 28, 2001. Assemblée nationale du Québec.
  14. Bill n°196 : Québec Constitution

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