OTTAWA – When King Charles III and Queen Camilla first set foot on Canadian soil, the Bloc Québécois was already considering one of its first private member’s bills: making the oath of allegiance to the King optional.

“It’s (Canadians’) party. It belongs to them. We’re not part of that party. You know, there are some who say the King is welcome. I won’t welcome him here,” said Xavier Barsalou-Duval as he was leaving the House of Commons after the election of a new speaker Monday.

Outside, a few kilometres from Parliament Hill, hundreds of Canadians were present to welcome the King and Queen.

The Bloc Québécois MP for Pierre-Boucher–Les Patriotes–Verchères cares deeply about the monarchy. He cares so much about it that he will champion one of his party’s first bills to be introduced this session: making the oath to the King optional when MPs are sworn in.

The idea behind the bill is to give MPs who wish to swear an oath to the King the opportunity to do so, and if they do not, they could swear an oath to the institution they represent.

“I won’t hide from you that for me, it was a humiliation and it’s the fourth time I’ve had to go through this,” he told National Post.

The humiliation, he said, is related to a “modern incarnation of the old British colonial authority.”

Barsalou-Duval spoke of the “atrocities” and “oppression” committed by the kingdom and emphasized that nothing can excuse events like the deportation of the Acadians.

The Bloc Québécois will therefore not send any MPs to the speech from the throne delivered by the King in the Senate on Tuesday. After proposing a bill to protect supply management, making the oath to the King optional is the party’s top priority.

Barsalou-Duval said that this bill would meet the apparent priorities of Mark Carney, who wanted to invite the King at the first opportunity.

“It’s a debate that never dies and why the subject never dies because we always ask ourselves the question each time why it’s still there,” the Bloc MP said.

His bill, he said, will be similar to the one introduced by former Liberal MP René Arseneault in 2024.

At the time, a majority of MPs rejected the proposal, but many federalist MPs voted in favour.

One of them was Joel Lightbound, the Liberal MP from Quebec City who was recently appointed minister of public works and procurement.

In 2022, Lightbound voted in favour of a Bloc Québécois motion to completely abolish the monarchy. He was the only Liberal MP to do so. Two years later, he even gave a speech in the House of Commons in support of Arseneault’s bill.

“We are not preventing anyone from swearing an oath to the monarchy. We are just offering another option for those who, like me, as a member from Quebec, are uncomfortable or have reservations about swearing allegiance to a foreign monarch,” he said.

This time, the new minister said he would vote with the cabinet, despite his personal views, but also added that “it is a beautiful symbol to see the King here.”

“I don’t know what the cabinet’s position will be… I’m really looking forward to the speech from the throne,” he told reporters on Parliament hill.

Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon did not say whether the government would support the Bloc Québécois bill and said he would not comment on bills until he had reviewed them. He nevertheless called the royal visit “rich in symbolism.”

“I think it’s a recognition of our origins as a French-speaking, English-speaking, and indigenous country. And I think and believe that the King will have some interesting things to tell us,” said MacKinnon, who is a Quebec MP.

The NDP said it was also awaiting the bill, and Quebec Conservative MP Gérard Deltell said he was “not a big fan” of the monarchy, adding that the issue will be debated when the bill is introduced.

With files from Catherine Lévesque

National Post

atrepanier@postmedia.com

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OTTAWA — Quebec Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia is the new speaker of the House of Commons, promising to bring back order and respect to the House as he presides over a new minority Parliament.

The longtime backbench MP was elected by his peers on Monday morning as the 39th speaker of the House of Commons during a jovial first sitting of the House of Commons since December.

It is unclear if the joviality will last in this minority Parliament as the final months of the Justin Trudeau government were tainted by a raucous and bellicose House marked by expulsions of MPs, mostly Conservative.

During his pitch to MPs before they voted for the speaker, Scarpaleggia said there must be limits to the attacks by Parliamentary opponents. After his election, he jokingly implored his colleagues to give him time to settle in before testing him.

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“There’s nothing wrong with a clean, even board-rattling, polemical body check in the corners. I’ve been at the receiving end of a few. Robust debate is fundamental to a robust democracy, and a robust democracy is what makes for resilience,” the longtime Liberal backbencher told MPs before his election.

“The problem is when sticks go high… Canadians want to see sticks on the ice, and it’s the responsibility of the speaker to make this so,” he continued. “I believe it possible to skillfully and convincingly dissect and refute an argument without recourse to personal invective or intimidation.”

After symbolically dragging the new speaker to his chair, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Opposition leader Andrew Scheer both wished Scarpaleggia well in his new role.

“I will make mistakes, and I have no doubt that you will call them out for good reason,” Carney said with a smile during his first ever address in the House of Commons.

“Mr. Speaker, we offer you our support,” said Scheer, noting that recent speakers have had to deal with a wide array of issues ranging from nudity to explicit language to

“flying elbows.”

“I did hear that CPAC was considering putting a warning on the daily broadcast may contain violence, coarse language and nudity,” he joked.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, interim NDP Leader Don Davies and Green Party head Elizabeth May also extended their best wishes to the new speaker.

Scarpaleggia defeated five of his Liberal colleagues to win the speakership: incumbent Greg Fergus, Sean Casey, Alexandra Mendès, Robert Oliphant and Sherry Romanado.

On Sunday evening, two Conservatives — Chris d’Entremont and John Nater — were also on the ballot. But the start of the election Monday morning, both Conservative candidates pulled out, paving the way for a Liberal MP to become speaker once again.

D’Entremont’s last-second retreat came as a surprise to many in the House, as late last week the veteran

Conservative MP pitched himself to National Post

as the voice of experience and reason for the job.

In many ways, the first day of a new Parliament looks and sounds like the first day back in school. Before the cameras turn on, MPs crowd the aisles to greet their colleagues of all political stripes, welcome neophytes, congratulate new cabinet members or even get in a quick chat with the prime minister.

Minutes before proceedings began, Carney and Opposition Leader in the House of Commons Andrew Scheer exchanged with a smile from their respective seats across the aisle.

The proceedings began with Bloc Québécois MP Louis Plamondon, a 41-year incumbent and the dean of the House, opening the new Parliament to preside over the speaker election.

But before, he shared a few words of wisdom acquired over four decades of federal politics.

“One piece of advice I’ve already given here in the House is, of course, to manage your frustrations,” he told new and veteran MP. “You may have questions like, ‘why wasn’t I appointed minister? Why wasn’t I appointed as a critic?’ But the feeling passes with time.”

His second piece of advice for newcomers was twofold: “speak up when you have something to say”, but also remember that when speaking to journalists, “one wrong word, and it changes your career.”

Peter Milliken, the longest-sitting Speaker in Commons history and

creator of the Speaker’s Scotch tradition

, overlooked the proceedings from the visitors’ gallery, even getting a shout out from Oliphant during his speech.

The six candidates were then given five minutes to pitch themselves to their colleagues. All promised to return decorum and respect in the House, though their methods differed.

Casey argued that there should have been “more expulsions” in the last Parliament over colleagues who defied the speaker or refused to withdraw unparliamentary language.

“What’s worse is that this lack of respect for Parliament has actually been used as ammunition to raise funds. Sadly, this demonstrates the current state of decline” of decorum, he said, adding that he aimed to “raise the bar” in how MPs treat each other.

Fergus, the incumbent speaker, pitched himself as the candidate of experience who knew how to manoeuvre in a minority Parliament. He admitted that he had made some faux pas during his tenure but compared himself to a “reliable car with experience” that now has a “couple of dents”.

“To be frank, it would have been a difficult time for anyone in that role,” he said of the last, raucous session where “tempers ran high, and cooperation ran low”.

Mendès, previously a deputy speaker who is currently undergoing treatments for cancer, said she would strive to bring more stability to the Commons and noted that a woman has never been elected speaker.

“This is the place where Canada’s most important conversations should be held, where we seriously debate and humorously disagree,” she said.

Oliphant promised to uphold Parliamentary dignity while having “zero tolerance” for unparliamentary behaviour, which he promised to crack down on “no matter where it comes from.”

Romanado promised to be “fair, firm and consistent” in upholding the rules of the House, while Scarpaleggia said he would be the defender of the backbenchers, which he has been all his political life.

After candidates finished their speeches, MPs lined up to fill out their vote in one of six booths in the centre aisle before dropping their ballot into an ornate wood box.

Carney cast his first ever speaker vote by putting his ballot into the box and then tapping twice on the slot as if to wish it safe travels.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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Last week, Canada Post received a strike notice from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) that was set to begin on May 23 if an agreement could not be reached. While the deadline to strike has passed, the union instead has implemented

a nationwide overtime ban

 while negotiations continue.

The ban went into effect last Thursday and is still in place at the start of this week. Canada Post workers have been called on to refuse to work more than eight hours in a day and more than forty hours in a week.

What happened last time Canada Post workers went on a strike?

The overtime ban is a legal strike action and all CUPW members must follow this direction, according to the union.

With negotiations ongoing between Canada Post and CUPW, here’s what to know.

What’s the latest in terms of negotiations between CUPW, Canada Post?

On Sunday, the union responded to new offers sent by Canada Post last week. Canada Post will review the union’s response in detail, it said in

a news release

.

The response comes after both parties met with federal mediation and conciliation services at a facility just outside of Ottawa over the weekend, the union said.

“All of this was done through the standard process in mediation called: the integrative approach,” the union said. “Documents and ideas exchanged during the integrative approach are confidential and cannot be used against that party at any subsequent arbitration or any other legal proceeding. This privacy allows both parties to talk about issues they may not otherwise entertain.”

What are some of the issues that remain unresolved between Canada Post, CUPW?

The union said it is still working on resolving issues such as wages, cost of living allowance, sick days, short-term disability program, workers compensation, compensatory time, relief staff, staffing, contracting out, weekend delivery, and part-time usage.

When will Canada Post respond to CUPW?

The union said it was informed that Canada Post had left the facility to review the documents later on Sunday afternoon.

“We were told they may respond within a few days. We would hope the Corporation is back to us as soon as possible,” the union said.

Meanwhile, Canada Post said it would “respond in short order,” because it was “now time for urgency,” after nearly two years of negotiations, a 32-day-long national strike in November of last year and the release of the

final report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission

. The report offers up recommendations on how the union and Canada Post can move forward.

Although talks continue, the nationwide overtime ban remains in effect.

How is Canada Post being affected?

The drawn out negotiations seem to be affecting Canada Post.

“The impact of the ongoing uncertainty on our business is significant, but the impact on the Canadian economy is greater,” the corporation said on Sunday. “By the end of last week our delivered parcel volumes were down by 50 per cent over this time last year and continue to drop.”

Alternative carriers have seen a surge in business inquiries as the uncertainty plaguing Canada Post and its workers looms,

Financial Post reported

. Stallion Express Inc., an e-commerce shipping service, told the publication that it has seen a 22 per cent spike in “inbound inquiries and new-account requests.”

• Canada Post strike: What happens to the parcels already accepted?
• Canada Post, union disagree over taking ‘five-minute wash-up time.’ Here’s what it is

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

OTTAWA — The Quebec government wants major digital platforms to emphasize and boost access to francophone content and is ready to penalize them if they don’t oblige.

And it could set up a constitutional battle with the federal government.

When the Quebec Minister of Culture and Communications Mathieu Lacombe outlined his government’s intentions regarding the streaming giants earlier this week, Peter Menzies thought: “Oh boy, here we go.”

The former vice chair of Telecommunications at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) saw the province —again — acting and asserting powers over what seems to be a federal jurisdiction.

“There’s constitutional issues over who has jurisdiction over communications and broadcasting control,” he told National Post.

Bill 109 would allow the government to set quotas for francophone content such as music, films and television series on streaming platforms like Netflix, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

Those platforms would also have to offer an easier way for users to find francophone content.

“We can’t choose something that isn’t offered to us. We can’t like something we don’t know,” Lacombe said earlier this week.

“Access to our culture, to films, to TV series, to songs in French, it must be easy, it must be simple when we’re in Quebec,” he added.

If Bill 109 is passed

, it would establish the “quantity or proportion” of original French-language content that must be offered on digital platforms with a default French-language interface. It would also enshrine the right of access to French-language cultural content in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Lacombe’s argument is based on data that isn’t very encouraging for Quebec’s cultural sector. Citing government data, Lacombe claims that 92 per cent of young people have difficulty identifying French-language cultural goods available on online platforms.

Of the 10,000 most-streamed songs in Quebec in 2023, only five per cent were French-language titles from the province. Not so long ago, in the era of compact discs, Lacombe said, one in two sales was by a Quebec artist. Currently, among the 50 most-streamed songs online in Quebec, there is only one song in French.

“The challenges facing our cultural businesses are numerous, from audience renewal to ensuring adequate funding,” said Eve Paré, the executive director for l’Adisq, an association representing more than 200 companies in the music industry.

“This is a clear symbol that the Quebec government has taken note of the situation prevailing in our industry,” she added.

So the government is adopting a firm approach, including quotas. Lacombe wouldn’t say what they were, but they would be determined through regulations. If the law is not respected, individuals and companies could face administrative sanctions up to $15,000 and criminal sanctions up to $300,000.

Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, believes that if these services were required to respect certain quotas, they might decide, rather than comply, to simply exclude users whose billing address is in the province. That means a user in Gatineau would not have access to the streaming service, while an Ottawa resident, less than a kilometre away, would.

That’s because, according to Geist, the wording of the bill requires a certain percentage of French-language content on a streaming service, which has the effect of removing content in English or not. The companies will therefore shut down the service in Quebec or remove English-language content in Quebec.

“That’s why I think it’s a content removal bill,” said Geist.

“I will not say to block the English content. It sounds a little belligerent. I wouldn’t say that. I would say it’s more about putting our content forward,” said Lacombe at his press conference Wednesday.

Meanwhile, many companies and the federal government are watching this very closely.

“We will carefully review the proposed legislation,” YouTube Canada spokesperson Simon Langlois said in an email to the National Post.

It appears the province is once again feuding with Ottawa over provincial powers. The provincial bill apparently overlaps with the federal Broadcasting Act. Bill C-11 overhauled the Act in the last Parliament to ensure that platforms contribute to the creation, promotion, and dissemination of Canadian culture.

“Our government firmly believes that Canadian content should be easily accessible on streaming platforms, and in Canadians’ official language of choice,” said Vanessa Cranston, a spokesperson for Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Steven Guilbeault.

The minister, we’re told, has taken note of the Quebec government’s bill and his department “will be examining it in depth.”

Guilbeault, who is also Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Quebec lieutenant and a popular political figure in the province, is expected to address this shortly, we’re told.

“There is no negotiation to be had with Ottawa. We are within our area of jurisdiction, so we legislate within our area of jurisdiction,” said Lacombe.

According to Geist, it all depends on how you frame the argument. If you argue that internet streaming constitutes broadcasting, then the power would rest with the federal or provincial government. “It’s not a shared responsibility,” Geist said.

Broadcasting is under federal jurisdiction. Therefore, if internet streaming is considered broadcasting, the powers could rest with the federal government, not the provinces. But if it’s anything other than traditional broadcasting, this calls into question the constitutionality of federal Bill C-11 and opens the door to the constitutionality of provincial legislation.

“It seems to me difficult to argue that both can be constitutional because it’s either broadcast or it isn’t, which then means it’s either federal or provincial,” said Geist.

According to Menzies, the biggest risk is that what Quebec believes it needs will be applied across the country.

“When Quebec still goes ahead and asserts its own authority in that area, it has a great risk of duplicating the regulation in that area, which causes confusion for the in this case, the streaming sector,” he said. “And does the CRTC end up just following Quebec’s lead and doing what their legislation wants?”

But for the Quebec government, it’s all about protecting its language and its culture.

“Quebec is today and will always remain the best judge of the state of its language and culture. We are a fully sovereign nation when it comes to our culture,” Lacombe said.

National Post

atrepanier@postmedia.com

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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Toronto on Sunday for the annual Walk with Israel, breaking the event’s attendance record for the second straight year.

Local law enforcement estimated there were roughly 56,000 participants, surpassing the previous

benchmark set last

year by 6,000.

A rally and concert held shortly before the walk in the parking lot of Temple Sinai, a synagogue bordering a major highway, was packed with Israeli and Canadian flags and people of all ages. The Magen Group, a prominent local entertainment company run by

Persian Jewish

brothers, emceed the event and Jewish rapper, Kosha Dillz, made a brief appearance on stage.

“It feels so good,” Sara Lefton, the chief development officer of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto (UJA), the

group that organized the event

, told National Post minutes before it began. “I think the Jewish community is really seeking togetherness. The more isolated we’ve been feeling, the more that we are seeking a moment like this to come together as the Jewish community, but also with our friends and allies.”

No masks, no anger, just pride, positivity and inclusion. Toronto’s Walk With Israel was a manifestation of what Toronto can be once again. pic.twitter.com/Kd3fSG0edx

— Ben Mulroney (@BenMulroney) May 25, 2025

A contingent representing the

Nova Music Festival Exhibition

, an art installation honouring concert-goers massacred by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which is currently on display in Toronto, was also present. For Omri Kohavi, a survivor of the atrocities and co-founder of the Tribe of Nova Foundation, a group dedicated to helping other survivors of the attack, the public display of support for Israel was deeply moving. He echoed Lefton’s feeling of positivity at the sight of so many Canadians showing their solidarity.

“It’s a good feeling to see all of you guys. Very nice people,” he said with a heavy Israeli accent. “We are brothers. We are from the same roots, so it’s a great feeling.”

Kohavi was joined by Ilan Faktor, an organizer of the Nova exhibition and a prominent Israeli trance figure. Faktor spoke of the cultural inheritance Canadians and Israelis share and underscored the Walk’s importance for Jews “to be proud, stand for themselves and not hide or feel bad about themselves.”

Toronto’s Walk With Israel today. Huge turnout. Well done Toronto pic.twitter.com/5sk9bdEMKD

— Bill Howe (@_BillHowe) June 9, 2024

“To stand for what we believe in, which is freedom, dance, (and) the love for people, we find it easy to relate to Canadians,” he said. “We just want people to be sensitive to what happened to us as human beings.”

The air was crisp as patches of early morning clouds gave way to blue skies and sunshine warming marchers as they made their way north along Bathurst Street through the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in northern Toronto.

Anti-Israel protesters were notably fewer in number compared with last year’s event. The side streets lining the path were virtually absent except for a moderate-sized gathering of picketers at the intersection of Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue. Red, white and green smoke bombs, evoking the colours of the Palestinian flag, were ignited when the head of the column passed through the intersection but police quickly surrounded and isolated the incendiaries.

Several protesters carried posters showing Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov kissing a Hamas terrorist on a stage in Gaza prior to his release at a public ceremony. Another carried a handwritten sign proclaiming: “The Torah was Noah’s Ark, Israel is (the) Titanic for you.” The inverted red triangle, a symbol frequently used by Hamas in propaganda videos to denote Israeli combatants, was displayed on multiple occasions.

Not that we need to prove anything to fans of the Hamas r*pist regime, but yes, the (now former) Israeli hostage, Omer Shem Tov, was clearly forced to kiss these filthy terrorists.

Guys, this is super r*pey. pic.twitter.com/KVLPH2Razq

— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) February 22, 2025

There was a heavy police presence lining the route, particularly at the Bathurst and Sheppard intersection, which slowed marchers down during the walk’s final stretch, just south of its endpoint at the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre (JCC). Tensions flared in the logjam as police did their best to distance the two camps from one another. No arrests were witnessed at the time.

The pro-Israel crowd was diverse and boasted many non-Jews. Several Iranian flags featuring a lion — an icon embraced by members of the diaspora

critical

of the current regime — were spotted often. Members of

Allies for a Strong Canada

, a group of non-Jewish advocates established after October 7 to combat antisemitism in the country, were also present.

“On the question of antisemitism, on the question of the rights and freedoms of the Jewish people, you need to stand up right away,” the chair of the organization’s board, Tim Egan, said. His comments came

just hours

after Israel’s National Security Council elevated its Canadian travel advisory level from “no warning” to “potential threat” posed to Jews and Israelis.

“As a Canadian, I’ve been horrified for a very long time about how antisemitism is on the rise,” Egan continued. “I’ve always seen Israel as an ally, we should stand with our allies. Israel is an ally under attack and with the attack on Israel has come, I think, a disgusting attack on the Jewish people within Canada.”

National Post

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