Quebec: No more crib before the Hotel de Ville in Mont-Royal

Mont-Royal, a municipality surrounded by the city of Montreal, will no longer display Christmas religious symbols. The repeated requests of the Muslim community wishing to place their own religious symbols in front of the Hotel de Ville de Mont-Royal during the Christmas holidays precipitated the decision. Rather than grant them this favor, the City Council chose to remove the crib as well as the Jewish menorah (a seven-branched candelabrum), which had been a part of the display since a Jewish mayor placed it there fifteen years ago.

According to Philippe Roy, the current mayor of Mount Royal, as quoted by Radio Ville-Marie on December 5 last, “we asked ourselves if we wanted to spread the five major religions. Are we going to put up five symbols? This is not the role of the City, which is a secular public power.” All that now remains before the Town Hall is a decorated Christmas tree, because according to Philippe Roy, “Christmas is religious for some, but for others it is cultural, and there are non-Christians who have a Christmas tree.” (Sources: Apic/Radio Ville-Marie - DICI No. 247 of 23/12/11)