Eleven members of Quebec’s national assembly have refused to pledge allegiance to the U.K.’s King Charles III.
The head of left-leaning group Québec Solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, hit out at “a colonial, archaic and outdated practice” which he wants to move on from.
King Charles became Canada’s symbolic head of state after his mother, the long-serving Elizabeth II, died in September.
Quebecois national assembly members must swear allegiance to the monarch in order to take their seats in the parliament.
The anti-monarchist Québec Solidaire instead only pledged allegiance to the people of Quebec. Three other national assembly members, representing the Parti Québecois, will follow suit on Friday. This means they might not be able to sit in the next assembly session on November 29.
Their aim is to shake up the swearing-in process and ultimately make allegiance to the crown optional.
