THE leader of a Canadian independence-supporting organisation has denounced the decision by the UK Supreme Court which ruled that Scotland cannot legislate for an independence referendum without Westminster’s consent.
Benoit Roy, president of the Rassemblement pour un Pays Souverain (Rally for a Sovereign Country), has said it should be up to Scotland to decide its own future.
Roy said: “This is a colonial-inspired legal judgment that Québec knows too well. It is only up to the Scottish and Québec nations to decide on their future.”
On November 20, the group held up a Scottish flag during a traditional commemoration event of the Patriots War between 1837 and 1838.
This comes after Alex Salmond showed his support for remarks made by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of the Parti Québécois, who also expressed support for Scottish independence.
Translated from French, Salmond said: “Thank you for your support and that of the Parti Quebecois in the fight for Scottish independence.
“I hope we can talk soon to explore how we can support each other.”
Roy explained that the Supreme Court of Canada also ruled on the constitutionality of the unilateral declaration of independence by Québec in 1998.
This ruling was referenced in the recent Supreme Court case, with Lord Reed mentioning the fact that the Canadian court ruled Québec did not have the right to decide on its independence.
In a recent blog post, constitutional expert Michael Keating explained that should Québec or any other province vote for independence by a clear majority, then the Government would need to negotiate.
He added: “The UK Supreme Court, on the contrary, argued that, precisely because a referendum would be an expression of the democratic will of the Scottish people, it would have political consequences and therefore be illegal.”
More recently, members of the Quebec parliament refused to swear allegiance to King Charles III.
Plamondon said that the oath was a “straitjacket that condemns each elected representative of the people of Quebec to hypocrisy”.
Roy also said he did not think the Quebec government would have any choice but to let those who refused to take the oath take their seat in parliament.
“This institutional anachronism has existed for too long. It is time to put an end to it.”
