{"id":99994,"date":"2025-12-04T08:05:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=99994"},"modified":"2025-12-04T08:05:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:05:44","slug":"consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/04\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Consultations set to begin on controversial Quebec constitution bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Maura Forrest A draft constitution tabled two months ago by the Quebec government was supposed to be a unifying declaration of Quebecers\u2019 common values, but it has instead been denounced as ill-conceived, divisive and authoritarian. Critics say the constitution bill would erode human rights and limit dissent, and could reopen an unnecessary debate on abortion. Some civil society groups are calling for it to be withdrawn outright. Wide-ranging consultations on the draft legislation will begin on Thursday and will continue into the new year. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general public as a gesture of goodwill, after being criticized for drafting the bill behind closed doors. More than 200 individuals and groups are scheduled to appear.\u00a0 Still, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec majority does&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F04%2Fconsultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Maura Forrest A draft constitution tabled two months ago by the Quebec government was supposed to be a unifying declaration of Quebecers\u2019 common values, but it has instead been denounced as ill-conceived, divisive and authoritarian. Critics say the constitution bill would erode human rights and limit dissent, and could reopen an unnecessary debate on abortion. Some civil society groups are calling for it to be withdrawn outright. Wide-ranging consultations on the draft legislation will begin on Thursday and will continue into the new year. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general public as a gesture of goodwill, after being criticized for drafting the bill behind closed doors. More than 200 individuals and groups are scheduled to appear.\u00a0 Still, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec majority does... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F12%2F04%2Fconsultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Consultations set to begin on controversial Quebec constitution bill - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/04\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Consultations set to begin on controversial Quebec constitution bill - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Maura Forrest A draft constitution tabled two months ago by the Quebec government was supposed to be a unifying declaration of Quebecers\u2019 common values, but it has instead been denounced as ill-conceived, divisive and authoritarian. Critics say the constitution bill would erode human rights and limit dissent, and could reopen an unnecessary debate on abortion. Some civil society groups are calling for it to be withdrawn outright. Wide-ranging consultations on the draft legislation will begin on Thursday and will continue into the new year. Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette agreed to open the consultations to the general public as a gesture of goodwill, after being criticized for drafting the bill behind closed doors. More than 200 individuals and groups are scheduled to appear.\u00a0 Still, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec majority does\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/04\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T13:05:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/04\\\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/04\\\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Consultations set to begin on controversial Quebec constitution bill\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T13:05:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/04\\\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":736,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/04\\\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/04\\\/consultations-set-to-begin-on-controversial-quebec-constitution-bill\\\/\",\"name\":\"Consultations set to begin on controversial Quebec constitution bill - 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