Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon takes office without Crown rep
On October 22, 2026, newly sworn-in Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon took office alongside his cabinet without reciting the oath of allegiance to British King Charles III. The ceremony in Montreal proceeded without the presence of the British monarch’s representative, setting up an immediate constitutional and political contrast across Canada.
The Oath Ceremony Versus The Absent Representative
The swearing-in ceremony broke tradition in the French-speaking province. No previous premier in Quebec had taken the oath of office without a representative of the British Crown physically present in the room.
Manon Janot, the official representative of the British monarch in Quebec, did not attend the event at Plamondon’s request. Instead, she watched from her office and formally signed off on the appointments of the provincial cabinet members to satisfy Canadian legal requirements.
Plamondon, who leads the pro-independence Parti Québécois, condemned the ongoing presence of the British monarchy as a “petrified symbol of British colonial domination” and campaigned heavily on its removal. Canada remains a member of the British Commonwealth with King Charles III as head of state, represented federally by the governor general and provincially by lieutenant governors.
In response to these institutional ties, Plamondon stated his intention to strip funding from the lieutenant governor’s office and redirect those public resources toward addressing homelessness.
Quebec Independence Polling Versus The Alberta Referendum Rejection
Current public opinion polls indicate that roughly 30 percent of Quebec residents support breaking away from Canada to form an independent nation. Despite this minority backing, Plamondon insisted that his government will eventually hold a referendum on sovereignty.
However, that vote will not happen while Donald Trump serves as US President. Plamondon explained that he wants to avoid having a volatile American leader overshadow the debate over Quebec’s national status.
That decisive defeat in Alberta served as a major setback for western separatists. Yet Plamondon interpreted the result differently.
In a post on the social media platform X, Plamondon argued that Alberta’s separatists—despite capturing 24 percent of the vote—provided concrete proof that “Canada in its current form does not work” and that the “status quo is no longer acceptable.”