Quebec: Bill on “religion in the public sphere”
Minister of Justice, Stéphanie Vallée.
In 2013, the proposed “Quebec Charter of Values” was a cause for concern for Catholics in Quebec, as well as Jewish and Moslem organizations (see DICI no. 285, 22/11/13), before it was abandoned following the defeat of the Parti Quebecois in the elections of April 2014. Today, the debate on “religion in the public sphere” has been reignited with Bill 62.
According to the Francophone Canadian news site La Presse, on October 27, 2016, the bill aims to “provide public organizations and institutions with guidelines to help them respond adequately to requests for religious accommodation,” in order to “respect the right for equality between men and women,” without “compromising the religious neutrality of the State” or “imposing any excessive constraint.” [Basically, a secular compromise so as not to compromise secularism...—Ed.]
The Justice Minister, Stéphanie Vallée, who is in charge of the consulting work related to the bill, stated on October 18th that “the religious neutrality of the Quebec State will not be demonstrated by the appearance of the person.” The news website specified on the same day that “theoretically, nothing will stop a policewoman or a female judge from wearing the hijab, the scarf worn by Moslem women that covers the head but leaves the face uncovered. A woman hidden in a chador, the black veil that covers one from head to foot with only the face exposed, could also provide or receive State services.”
According to Fatima Houda-Pepin, quoted on October 27, the bill shows “submission to Islamism.” Questioned by a parliamentary committee on the same day, the former liberal member of the provincial parliament stated, “Bill 62 must be reviewed. If you want to produce something that is useful (…) for Quebec, it needs to be rewritten.”
The bill makes no mention of religious symbols and names. Article 13 stipulates nonetheless that “the measures taken in this law cannot be interpreted as affecting the emblems or the place names related to the cultural heritage of Quebec, especially the religious cultural heritage that bears witness to its historical journey.” So there is not (yet) any question of changing the names of municipalities or streets named after saints, or removing the cross from Mont-Royal.
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Radio Vatican – AECQ – Huffington Post – DICI no. 344, dated November 11, 2016)
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