A chorus of cheers as CAQ abandons bill to create Quebec constitution

“This bill was part of a divisive government agenda that includes Bill 96, 21 and 84, among others.”

QUEBEC — Human rights organizations, unions, minority groups and opposition politicians cheered the news on Thursday that the Coalition Avenir Québec government is abandoning its attempt to create a Quebec constitution.

“Victory,” Québec solidaire MNA Haroun Bouazzi told reporters. “We are celebrating an important moment for the Quebec nation. The constitutional project of (Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette) has finally fallen.”

“We are obviously very pleased that the substantial and broadly based opposition to this bill has brought about its demise,” added Eva Ludvig, president of the anglophone community lobby group TALQ.

“It was never a legitimate constitution, from a flawed process at the outset to restrictions of rights it sought to impose, to its initial refusal to acknowledge the 1.3-million-member English-speaking community as an integral part of Quebec.

“This bill was part of a divisive government agenda that includes Bill 96, 21 and 84, among others,” Ludvig added, citing the CAQ government’s legislation on language, secularism and integration of immigrants, respectively.