Quebec’s latest niqab panic

 National Post

Chris Selley

Never having witnessed fascism taking hold, I wouldn’t claim to know it to see it. But whenever commentators have likened the Parti Québécois’ proposed “secularism charter” to the early drumbeats of some historically dire intolerance, my first instinct has been to scoff.

It’s certainly stupid and unfair to threaten public servants with unemployment if they don’t forsake certain religious customs, all to solve a problem that no one except the pollsters seems able to quantify. It’s certainly disturbing that any political party would stoop so low in search of support, and all the more so that the PQ seems to be finding it down there.

But whatever the polls say, Montreal seems more cosmopolitan every time I visit. Despite reports of an uptick in anti-Muslim confrontations, surely it’s a fantastically unlikely breeding ground for any sort of widespread, street-level discrimination.

Surely. But events recently took a shivery turn: A week ago, a woman spotted two daycare workers, dressed in niqabs, marshalling their young charges through the streets of Verdun, in southwest Montreal. And as one does nowadays, she snapped a photo and posted it to Facebook.

Thousands of people saw it. And not all of the commentary was polite. [Full text]

 

Quebec’s Charter of Values: Preliminaries to the Charter

Implications of state sovereignty over education, religion and
ethics

 Sean Murphy*

 Introduction

It appears from Quebec government policy documents describing its proposed Charter of Values (the precise language of which has yet to be released) that it considers physicians and other health care workers to be state functionaries because they are engaged in the delivery of “public” health care.  As state functionaries, they will be forbidden to wear noticeable religious symbols or clothing, unless local authorities exempt them from this restriction.

However, no exemptions will be allowed to parts of the Charter that will impose secularism and restrict accommodation of religious beliefs.  These are central government policies that are to be enacted through the Charter of Values and related legislation.  This gives rise to an important question.

Will the government of Quebec – sooner or later –  use its Charter of Values to suppress freedom of conscience and religion among health care workers?

An answer to the question is suggested by a review of the Quebec government’s continuing efforts to establish state hegemony in the moral and ethical education of children. . .  Full Text

 

Quebec’s Charter of Values: government policy document

Parce que nos valeurs, on y croit | Because we believe in our values

Document d’orientation | Policy Document

Orientations gouvernmentales en matière d’encadrement des demandes d’accommodement religieux, d’affirmation des valeurs de la société Québécoise ainsi que du caractère laïque des institutions de l’état Governmental guidelines for managing applications for religious accommodation, affirmation of the values ​​of Quebec society and the secular nature of the state institutions

Full Translation

Quebec’s Charter of Values: Outline of government proposals and rationale

Parce que nos valeurs, on y croit  |   Because we believe in our values

Propositions gouvernementales |   Governmental propositions

Mot de Bernard Drainville | A word from Bernard Drainville

Au Québec, la question des accommodements religieux n’est toujours pas réglée. Dans son discours inaugural, la première ministre, Mme Pauline Marois, rappelait que les questions soulevées par la « crise » des accommodements raisonnables étaient encore en suspens. Le gouvernement a pris l’engagement ferme de les clarifier. Les propositions que nous vous soumettons respectent cet engagement. In Quebec, the issue of religious accommodation is still not resolved. In her inaugural speech, Prime Minister Pauline Marois recalled that the issues raised by the “crisis” of reasonable accommodations were outstanding. The government has a firm commitment to clarify them. The proposals we submit meet this commitment.

Full translation

Legal Restrictions Affecting Christians / Report 2012

Legal Restrictions Affecting Christians / Report 2012Report Finds Large Number of Cases of Intolerance and Legal Restrictions Effecting Christians in Europe

Vienna / European Union, May 22, 2013. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians releases 41 examples of national laws with adverse effects on Christians in more than 15 European Countries. Additionally, 169 cases of intolerance against Christians in the EU – area in 2012 are portrayed. The report was presented on May 21 at an OSCE High Level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination held in

Tirana, Albania, in a keynote speech delivered by the Observatory’s director Dr. Gudrun Kugler. [Full news release and documents]