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Now that the Parti Québécois is sworn in as Quebec’s minority government, one of its immediate priorities is what children wear to school.
“It’s non-negotiable. This is what we were elected to do,” Education Minister Joël Arseneau said Wednesday when asked if his party will stand firm on its electoral promise to ban elementary students from wearing religious symbols in schools.
“We’ll work to get it done.”
The PQ has promised to broaden provincial secularism laws, further tightening the rules put in place by the former Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government — rules that already included banning religious symbols on some public employees, like teachers, from wearing religious symbols.
A legal challenge of that law has made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, with lawyers claiming it raises serious concerns involving several Charter rights. Those legal proceedings are ongoing and a ruling is expected this fall.
But the plan to increase restrictions prompted religious leaders and a civil liberties group to come together and condemn the policy push.
Muslim group, rabbi condemn proposal
In a statement Thursday, the Conseil National des Québécois Musulmans (CNQM) says Arseneau’s announcement “has raised serious concerns about religious freedom, equal access to public education and the place of religious minorities in Quebec society.”
School leaders have also warned that such a prohibition could undermine relationships between schools and families and that targeting children is not a good public policy goal, the statement says.
CNQM CEO Stephen Brown challenged the message the policy would send to kids, saying the move was an attack on children and their right to spirituality.
“That they’re not a member of society,” he said. “And that they are second-class citizens.”
He added CAQ government originally said it was just going to be people in authority, but over the years the rules tightened to include daycare workers and public prayer.
“People need a permit to go pray,” he said. “Now we’re going to bar children from entering school if they don’t conform to the government ’s idea of what constitutes acceptable religious practice?”
Stephen Brown, president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, says the proposed ban would send a message to many children that they are second-class citizens. (Natalia Weichsel/CBC)
Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, of the Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, said parents are opting into society by raising their children here and they want their kids to be good citizens and neighbours, but that “has nothing to do with what they’re wearing on their heads.”
“To have this put forward as a priority in the early days of office is definitely troubling,” she said.
She challenged the notion that the garments or accessories in question are even religious symbols, explaining that in Judaism “it’s so much more about practice than belief … in Judaism, there’s a real emphasis on what you do. To wear certain religious garb and do certain things, that’s just part of who we are.”
Freedom of expression, religion
Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, who is with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said now the question is if the government is intending on using the notwithstanding clause to shield this legislation from the courts’ scrutiny.
The notwithstanding clause has been used in previous provincial laws such as Bill 21 on secularism and Bill 96 on the French language.
“This is a measure that infringes on freedom of religion and freedom of expression,” she said, noting she is taking the proposal at face value, having not seen the fine print yet. “It’s also a measure that will be discriminatory.”
The types of bills introduced in recent years are a barometer of where the province is heading, according to human rights lawyer Julius Grey, who said it appears “Quebec is becoming an authoritarian state in a very funny way.”
“They pretend they’re not. ‘We’re so democratic. We’re so nice.’ But, in fact, they do not seem to respect individual autonomy. This government or the CAQ government,” he said.
He said there is a lack of freedom in these laws, and he doesn’t see it changing very quickly because the government is encouraged to push forward. He questioned what would happen if there were no check and balances in the National Assembly.
“If they had full and total power, I think the present government would basically limit freedom in unacceptable ways,” Grey said.
