Bill 21 feeds intolerance, Gérard Bouchard tells hearings

"History is filled with examples where a majority abused its powers at the expense of its minority."

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/gerard-bouchard-challenges-legitimacy-of-bill-21-at-hearings?fbclid=IwAR1gNuZbzmVVAjSnkVS2-H_5CBIlytCwNSJV-uRV33o2bJGs-EU4ObCu-m0

QUEBEC — The co-author of the 2008 report on reasonable accommodations says Quebec’s Bill 21 doesn’t make the province look like a “decent society” and will only feed an intolerance toward minorities, which has been festering for years.

And Gérard Bouchard said that before the majority decides to override the rights of its minority, it needs to have a good reason, some kind of “higher motivation” other than just wanting to get the debate over with fast — and the Coalition Avenir Québec government has yet to prove its case.

It has not even produced a scientific study proving a teacher wearing a hijab, for example, could indoctrinate, intimidate or traumatize a student into following a particular path, Bouchard said ...

EMSB has highest Quebec public school board success rate, new stats show

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/emsb-has-highest-quebec-public-school-board-success-rate-new-stats-show?fbclid=IwAR37muQRWHAa3kOYuRWTPDquxOOfimlrNM4uhVnyM8eODJxy3HmFa-SAsXw

Quebec’s Bill 21 misapplies religious neutrality principle

Bill 21 is supposed to be about religious neutrality, but it is inconsistent with how this constitutional principle is understood in Canadian law.

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2019/quebecs-bill-21-misapplies-religious-neutrality-principle/?fbclid=IwAR1OGLhFPSpVTydKUN4m5JTwxyt062XVvNCrJSXqyguH3MzNc9jr5VVqiyQ

The Quebec government has introduced its promised legislation restricting visible religious imagery in the public service. In essence, Bill 21 prohibits state employees such as prosecutors, police officers and teachers from wearing religious symbols — including head and face coverings — when carrying out their civic duties. It will apply only to new public service hires, exempting existing civil servants from its provisions. The Bill, tabled in late March, follows similar legislation passed in 2017 that banned the wearing of face coverings by individuals providing or receiving certain public services.

The new law is ostensibly supported by four principles: the religious neutrality of the state; the separation of religion and the state; the equality of all citizens; and freedom of conscience and religion. But perhaps even more significantly, Bill 21 seeks to amend the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, the quasi-constitutional provincial statute with which all Quebec laws must comply, and which itself is subordinate only to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although the Quebec Charter guarantees freedom of religion, its preamble will now include a declaration affirming the “fundamental importance” of state secularism.

In response to warnings from civil libertarians that these provisions will disproportionately target members of minority religious groups, Premier François Legault has insisted that the Bill is consistent with the views of most Quebecers that the state ought to be religiously neutral.

Jedwab: Should federal leaders intervene on Quebec's Bill 21?

Quebec politicians seemingly feel it is inappropriate for 'outsiders' to involve themselves in the business of their province. These same politicians are happy to intervene in other provinces' affairs though, particularly when it comes to minorities.  
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/jedwab-should-federal-leaders-intervene-on-quebecs-bill-21?fbclid=IwAR2EftrFZ0iq4URlm7xsRhdUadcds_zJXog5-2bwbHsYt2t5k6QJlOSiLPQ
At the very start of the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not entirely dismiss the possibility of some intervention on Quebec’s Bill 21. This prompted Quebec Premier François Legault to ask all party leaders to permanently stay out of this purely provincial matter.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was quick to heed the call, suggesting that it was not the place of the federal leaders to encroach on the province’s jurisdiction. Legault also secured support for his stand from provincial Liberal leadership front-runner Dominique Anglade (a former member of Legault’s political party) who echoed the premier’s view that any decision regarding Bill 21 – the province’s law banning many public servants from wearing religious symbols – had to be made by Quebecers only.
Quebec politicians seemingly feel it is inappropriate for “outsiders” to involve themselves in the business of their province, and in particular when it comes to concerns expressed by “their” minorities. But they don’t always follow their own rule when it comes to other provinces.

The faulty received wisdom around the notwithstanding clause

Invoking the notwithstanding clause, as Quebec has done with Bill 21, does not shield a law from being reviewed by a court for violating rights. 

  https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2019/faulty-wisdom-notwithstanding-clause/?fbclid=IwAR0c-a7zS_wmlY72cf7Nz5z1zpTkgQ6U8d56OLXbXvDvPVdjS3Yrm2wGvlA

Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has often been described, including by the Supreme Court of Canada, as an “override provision” that allows legislation to override Charter rights and freedoms. According to received wisdom, the notwithstanding clause bars judicial review of legislation that is shielded by it. Quebec Premier François Legault so supposes when he explains his government’s recourse to the notwithstanding clause in Bill 21, An Act respecting the Laicity of the State, as a way to “avoid lengthy judicial battles.”

And yet the text of section 33 does not support this received wisdom. The word “override” appears nowhere and there is no mention of “judicial review.” Rather, the text of section 33 focuses on shielding a law’s “operation.” It states that declaring that a law shall operate notwithstanding one or more Charter rights will secure for the legislation “such operation as it would have but for the provision of this Charter referred to in the declaration.” The equivalent term in the French version of section 33(2) is “effet,” providing that a law invoking the notwithstanding clause “a l’effet qu’elle aurait sauf la disposition en cause de la charte.”
In the Charter’s nearly 40 years of existence, no court has addressed the meaning of this phrase in section 33(2), let alone settled it. The Supreme Court of Canada in Ford v. Quebec (1988) ruled on the formal requirements in section 33(1) for invoking the notwithstanding clause. But the Court was not asked about, nor did it rule on, the significance of shielding a law’s operation. What does it mean?

Fonction publique: le Québec gouverné par des Québécois de souche

La proportion de personnes issues des communautés culturelles chez les mandarins de l’État est famélique.
https://www.journaldequebec.com/2019/09/19/le-quebec-gouverne-par-des-quebecois-de-souche?fbclid=IwAR1mhKBkWWTbxSVNckCWczpPdKDUGn3z1c6E4OEc9kZFHAJc-xomjDU81XU

L’administration publique québécoise est plutôt homogène, notamment dans les hautes sphères de l’État, révèle les plus récentes données du Conseil du trésor. Seulement 23 des 724 hauts fonctionnaires que compte l’État québécois sont membres de minorités visibles ou ethniques.
La diversité n’est guère plus au rendez-vous chez les cadres. À peine 4,9% des 3193 gestionnaires de l’État sont issus des communautés culturelles.

Si on englobe toutes les catégories d’emplois de la fonction publique, la part des minorités visibles ou ethniques est légèrement plus élevée. Un peu plus d’un fonctionnaire sur dix (11%) est issu des communautés culturelles.

Chris Selley: Quebec academics’ reasonable accommodations report an oil slick that just keeps growing

The Bouchard-Taylor report, released in 2008, was supposed to put an end to Quebec's reasonable accommodations debate. It haunts them still

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-quebec-academics-reasonable-accommodations-report-an-oil-slick-that-just-keeps-growing?fbclid=IwAR3xZ92Snusnc45J6x0bz4X8QAf2VmLC6SjHSFeqsUt3fLLTywnsBjb6yoY

When Quebec premier Jean Charest unveiled the Bouchard-Taylor Commission just over 12 years ago, there was a widespread sense of relief. The reasonable accommodations debate was spinning out of control. The world was gawping at Hérouxville, the all-white hamlet with its hysterically Islamophobic code of conduct (no stoning women within city limits!) and its mayor who wanted martial law declared to protect Quebec culture. It was at least embarrassing, potentially dangerous.

Tweedy sociologist Gérard Bouchard and equally tweedy philosopher Charles Taylor would take things off the boil: tour the province, hear people’s grievances, sort the genuine from the crazy and come up with something everyone could live with. The opposition Parti Québécois was on board. “There’s nothing like a year of scholarly discussion to drain the passion out of any issue,” the Montreal Gazette opined in an editorial, “at least for a while.”

It didn’t really even do it for a while. Mario Dumont’s Action Démocratique rode nativist angst to official opposition. In response, the PQ embraced nativist angst as well. Meanwhile Charest’s and, later, Philippe Couillard’s governments got busy doing nothing about the Bouchard-Taylor recommendations — notably that judges, prosecutors, police officers and other wielders of state authority not wear religious symbols. When the Liberals finally threw the mob a bone in 2017, in the form of Bill 62, justice minister Stéphanie Vallée found herself banning women who wear niqabs from riding public buses ...

Johnson: The Parti Québécois gets it wrong again

http://www.thesuburban.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/the-parti-qu-b-cois-gets-it-wrong-again/article_0388c71a-933f-5f75-bc4b-85f71c18ddaa.html?fbclid=IwAR34es292YUbGajhXW6dkS6atPipMCy9JrcVaMG1nG7XGAcmJA0jOz7_aWQ

Does the Parti Québécois never learn? Now, with only nine elected members sitting in the National Assembly – which puts it in fourth place – the PQ attempts to regain credibility by issuing Wednesday (Sept. 4) a thundering "Déclaration de principes."

The statement was formulated by the PQ’s executive committee and is to be debated at a special relaunching party convention to be held on Nov. 9 and 10. Trouble is, the statement begins with a lie in its very first sentence:  "Le Québec est une nation francophone ancrée en Amérique."

Quebec is not, in law and in fact, a nation. It is a territorial province created for the first time by the Constitution Act of 1867. Quebec contains in its territory at least 10 aboriginal nations which were recognized as such by previous Quebec governments. Quebec’s territory also contains a substantial part of the Canadian nation.

Don Macpherson: Defending Quebec against undesirables | Montreal Gazette

François Legault would defend Quebec against Haitians trying to get in, and Jean-François Lisée against non-francophones already here.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/don-macpherson-defending-quebec-against-undesirables

Everybody in Quebec is a minority. Even the French-speaking Quebecers who form the political majority that wields power in this province are a cultural minority in North America, and even Quebec independence wouldn’t change that.

Minority consciousness can create feelings of vulnerability, fear of loss, and suspicion of others. In Quebec, where every group is a minority, it seems that every one of them is suspicious of some other, resulting in the wearisome particular divisiveness of the province’s politics.

Besieged minorities — and not only French-speaking Quebecers — need defenders against outside threats, real or perceived. This creates opportunities for volunteers, in the media and, as we saw again in Quebec this week, in politics ...

Bill 21 hearings: 'We were very naive' about impact of report, Charles Taylor says

Simon Jolin-Barrette told the National Assembly hearing that Quebec is a nation and no one can "try and take away its fundamental right to decide its future."

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/expect-sparks-to-fly-as-bill-21-hearings-are-launched-tuesday?fbclid=IwAR1-lOB9fm65hOu7bCTMfn8axl24GaxDkM6G4PEv_bmyeew3BSQ1QriYHJE

QUEBEC — Charles Taylor says had he known in 2008 what he knows today about the potential for hatemongers to cash in on the slightest attempt to restrict religious freedoms, he would never have proposed them.

In a frank exchange between the respected philosopher and Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette Tuesday evening, Taylor conceded he and his colleague Gérard Bouchard were wrong to propose restrictions on symbols for a small group of authority figures.

Instead of acting as a bulwark to appease people clamouring for more restrictions, the ban for some authority figures was used as a trampoline for people to ask for more, and he regrets that deeply, Taylor told a committee studying Bill 21 Tuesday.

Macpherson: Questions for Justin Trudeau on Quebec's Bill 21

For reasons of strategy as well as principle, the Liberal leader should say clearly, and early, he intends to intervene in the matter.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/macpherson-questions-for-justin-trudeau-on-quebecs-bill-21?fbclid=IwAR1LAsLSCDCqT3pPNLcsDNGvoGuGo9598WWwmgRCF8IOb3xUZtxMhDGxhWU

“If you are the next prime minister of Canada, what will your government do to defend the rights of Canadians in Quebec?”

The question is addressed to the leaders of the federal parties. And voters deserve a clear answer from each of them before the Oct. 21 general election.

It’s a simple question, and anything but theoretical. It arises from the violation of minority rights in this province under its Coalition Avenir Québec government, which is having real effects on the lives of Canadians living here.

Macpherson: Why the 'bad' news about 'bonjour-hi' is actually good

That the threat to French receiving the most attention would be something as trivial as bonjour-hi is a sign of progress under Bill 101.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/macpherson-why-the-bad-news-about-bonjour-hi-is-actually-good?fbclid=IwAR35h0t5Yb7DMWsyFi4kx2wojMJx9jy-TIspz8qrWHYsal-I83ELReL5gDY
Damned kids. Indifferent toward Quebec independence, accepting multiculturalism. More concerned with saving the planet than saving French.

From “bonjour-hi.”

That’s only a slight caricature of some of the reaction to the latest report on the evolution of the situation of French produced by the Quebec government agency that enforces the province’s language law ...

Dan Delmar: How the PQ can seduce anglos and other minorities

Here are some pointers for the Parti Québécois's new leader, Jean-François Lisée, as he attempts to reach out.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/dan-delmar-how-the-pq-can-seduce-anglos-and-other-minorities
While many anglophones were playing backgammon, watching The Big Bang Theory, sleeping or otherwise abstaining from Quebec culture shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, newly minted Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée extended an olive branch, speaking to them in their language, on prime-time television.

PQ leaders rarely speak English in public at length, and Lisée’s two-and-a-half-minute pitch was friendly, clever and pointed.

Most of few anglos who were watching will almost certainly disregard the message. Even so, if this supposedly friendlier PQ is truly interested in anglo outreach, it should at least be open to discussing a few changes ...

Bill 21 hearings: 'We were very naive' about impact of report, Charles Taylor says

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/expect-sparks-to-fly-as-bill-21-hearings-are-launched-tuesday

QUEBEC — Charles Taylor says had he known in 2008 what he knows today about the potential for hatemongers to cash in on the slightest attempt to restrict religious freedoms, he would never have proposed them.

In a frank exchange between the respected philosopher and Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette Tuesday evening, Taylor conceded he and his colleague Gérard Bouchard were wrong to propose restrictions on symbols for a small group of authority figures.

Instead of acting as a bulwark to appease people clamouring for more restrictions, the ban for some authority figures was used as a trampoline for people to ask for more, and he regrets that deeply, Taylor told a committee studying Bill 21 Tuesday.

Poll shows Quebec anglos do not want school boards abolished

Conducted by Léger Marketing for the Quebec Community Groups Network, the poll reveals 82 per cent of anglophones are attached to their boards
   https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/poll-shows-quebec-anglos-do-not-want-school-boards-abolished?fbclid=IwAR0jDGOMl5ZE8cWptwgr_Jas0SOHK4dV3PMQhI5wqHLe1Gkv9gkv8VBFdcM

QUEBEC — With the Legault government putting the finishing touches on legislation to abolish school boards and elections, a new poll shows the vast majority of English-speaking Quebecers are very attached to them.

And overall, a majority of Quebecers — 55 per cent — do not want to see the Coalition Avenir Québec government abolish them.

Johnson: There's no threat in sight to French linguistic predominance in Quebec

What counts most for the vitality of French culture is the number of people speaking French, not slight variations in the proportion.   

http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-theres-no-threat-in-sight-to-french-predominance-in-Quebec

The usual chorus of Quebec politicians and pundits chanted lamentations over the 2016 census data published on Aug. 2. Even after Statistics Canada confirmed that a computer error had categorized thousands of French speakers as English, even after corrected figures were published on Aug. 17, the call was raised for tougher legislation to curtail English.

Anglican and Lutheran leaders speak out against Niqab ban

https://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/11/anglican-and-lutheran-leaders-speak-out-against-niqab-ban.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1mqxO-6bAOFRZCxJVuAGdsCqrfj-MJAkQQfOB0CvvO332bDiEjNnGx25A

The Anglican bishops of Montreal and Quebec have joined the Bishop of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada to speak out against a new law that bans the wearing of the Niqab – the Islamic face covering – in the province of Quebec from people delivering or receiving a public service. Bill 62 was passed by the Quebec National Assembly last month, and is described as “an Act to foster adherence to State religious neutrality”.

The Act purports to provide for religious neutrality in the provision of public services. Its introduction explains that “personnel members of public bodies must demonstrate religious neutrality in the exercise of their functions, being careful to neither favour nor hinder a person because of the person’s religious affiliation or non-affiliation or because of their own religious convictions or beliefs or those of a person in authority. However, this duty does not apply to personnel members of certain bodies while they are providing spiritual care and guidance services, or providing instruction of a religious nature.”

But it goes on to say that “Under the Act, personnel members of public bodies and certain other bodies as well as elected persons must exercise their functions with their face uncovered. In addition, persons who request a service from such a personnel member or person must have their face uncovered when the service is provided.”

Jeffrey Simpson: NDP's Quebec nationalism questionable

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/managing-tom-mulcair/article624695/

Similarly, Mr. Mulcair has driven the party into a very Quebec nationalistic position on language, whereby Quebec's Bill 101 would take precedence over the Official Languages Act for federal institutions in Quebec.

This position, similar to the one taken by the Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois, will undoubtedly please Quebec secessionists and strong nationalists, but it does not jibe with the NDP's stated policy of support for the Official Languages Act.

Bill 21: Canadians divided on religious symbols ban, poll shows

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/bill-21-canadians-divided-on-religious-symbols-ban-poll-shows?fbclid=IwAR04suCgHNQYqNa0l_zIgOZRrqRLNJJiNCqLqBfWkkr78pIKjt84v9RenxU

Quebec has been the subject of numerous negative headlines across Canada since tabling its controversial Bill 21, which would prohibit certain public sector employees from wearing religious symbols.

But a new poll shows that many in other provinces agree with the majority of Quebecers in favour of the bill. The Léger poll, conducted online for La Presse Canadienne April 18-22, polled 1,522 Canadians.

Taking into consideration responses from Quebec, 46 per cent of Canadians would be in favour of a similar bill, compared to 42 per cent who would be against it.

Macpherson: A 'carte carrée' photo ID for official anglos?

The governing Coalition Avenir Québec party would deny government services in English to everybody but the "historic" anglophone community.

 https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/macpherson-a-carte-carree-photo-id-for-official-anglos?fbclid=IwAR1SLKT_uByDxplJxRTFMUP9wAtpKQMRwaSb8JhEczqFhroYXbxHU4Px9Ws

Jedwab: Quebec’s proposed ban or religious signs a case study in identity politics

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/jedwab-quebecs-proposed-ban-or-religious-signs-a-case-study-in-identity-politics?fbclid=IwAR0CfxevIYcUIy1jTQ_pLag5_e83R5Hoqx_HH9HNJt0UnF9ecWLFVkBcfQY

Some Quebec intellectuals and policymakers contend that the thinking behind proposed government restrictions, via Bill 21, on the wearing of religious signs for persons in positions of authority originated in the push for greater state secularism that began in the 1960s. In fact, the key driver for the current debate emerged in 2006, when a local YMCA agreed to frost its windows to allay concerns of some orthodox Jews about boys being exposed to women in gym attire.

That concession gave rise to a public outcry, accompanied by fears that it was only the beginning of multiple requests to accommodate the province’s religious minorities. Concerns abounded over immigration, and about whether gender equality was at risk from certain religious minorities that would somehow impose their practices on the majority.

In January 2007, the small Quebec town of Hérouxville introduced a citizen “code of conduct” identifying specific practices to be disallowed. This openly Islamophobic code prohibited such things as stoning women and/or burning them alive, as if anyone in Quebec were doing so. Thankfully, most Quebecers saw the resolution as wildly excessive. Yet, many called on the government to establish rules to address all possible requests for religious accommodation.

Mathen: The tenuous constitutionality of [Quebec Law] 62

http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2017/the-tenuous-constitutionality-of-bill-62/

If Quebec’s Bill 62 faces a Charter challenge based on freedom of religion, the province would need to satisfy a number of onerous legal tests.

Analysis: Quebec's language debate poised to roar back to life

Taking their cue from the Legault government’s fresh interest in the status of the French language now that it believes the secularism debate has cooled, the main opposition parties stepped up to say they too want action.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/analysis-quebecs-language-debate-poised-to-roar-back-to-life?fbclid=IwAR39MPJjEXWUlM26Vf4TedLcmugUNV0YDQCrJGKP7hYE1xMbdTvbxA0i5_o

In other words, nobody wants to surrender the vote-rich language theme to the Coalition Avenir Québec government when all parties are fighting for the same nationalist voters.

While the Parti Québécois said it has never stopped pushing for tougher language laws because it’s part of the party’s DNA, the Liberals surprised observers in saying they agree it might be necessary to re-examine the Charter of the French Language ...

Jedwab: For many Quebecers, this is not 'our way of being Canadian'

Any constitutional recognition of Quebec as a nation means denying Canada's own nationhood, Jack Jedwab writes.

http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-for-many-quebecers-this-is-not-our-way-of-being-canadian

Dialogue between Quebecers and other Canadians is always welcome. Beyond simply celebrating the 150th anniversary of Canada, there is value in reflection and discussion about our national identity and where the country is headed.

Such dialogue should not be tied to any eventual change to Canada’s Constitution. Regrettably, though, that is what the government of Quebec effectively is proposing in its recently issued policy statement titled Quebecers, Our Way of Being Canadian.

It’s true that much has changed since the last attempt to amend the Constitution. Younger generations of Canadians haven’t lived through the divisive referendums or the tumultuous constitutional negotiations of the 1980s and ’90s. But they can surely read about them in history books or consult parents or friends ...

Chris Selley: Trudeau's mea culpa over his electoral reform debacle is truly mind boggling

I cannot recall seeing such an implausibly ambitious plea for clemency for such a transparently cynical record. It says a lot that he would even attempt it

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-trudeaus-mea-culpa-over-his-electoral-reform-debacle-is-truly-mind-boggling?fbclid=IwAR0_QI-8Pc3DWhOvuNQz5WnFWcqjudqQbgfGt2NAE2jHhxVTgMIDKKgeM9Y

Pre-campaign books about politicians are always interesting when the author gets significant access to the subject, because it gives the subject a chance to offer a well-thought-out and carefully considered case for his election or re-election to an impartial reporter. It’s not a press conference full of headline-hungry hacks marinating in Red Bull; it’s a civilized, coffee-scented sit-down with a journalist whom the candidate considers — at the very least — fair-minded and not liable to knife him in the back. With a greasy, no-holds-barred campaign in the offing, here’s his chance to make a more civilized case to the electorate.

Parliament Hill reporter Aaron Wherry’s new book, Promise and Peril: Justin Trudeau in Power, offers some fascinating insights along those lines, not least on the question of the Trudeau government’s signature debacle. I don’t mean SNC-Lavalin (although nothing is challenging it for second place). I mean the Liberals’ promise, later doubled and tripled down upon and then abandoned in jaw-dropping fashion, that 2015 would be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post system.

Don Macpherson: Anglos' supposed new political influence is an illusion

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/don-macpherson-anglos-supposed-new-political-influence-is-an-illusion

The harsh mathematical reality for anglos is in newly published socio-economic data on the 125 provincial ridings on the new electoral map to be used in this year’s election. 

They show that people who most often speak French at home are the majority of the population in all but 13 ridings. In the latter, speakers of languages other than French or English combine with anglos to form the majority ... 

Anglos, however, form the dominant home-language group in only six ridings, all in the western half of Montreal Island.

For campaigning federal politicians, our freedoms take a back seat to votes

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-for-campaigning-federal-politicians-our-freedoms-take-a-back-seat-to/?fbclid=IwAR0lli7KZ5Rnuu5P2WTqptgsyCJiPgswRpp1j7iW1KMMpUALwHQmX9ADLJ4

Amrit Kaur, a young woman from Quebec, has been in the news this month because of her decision to take a teaching job in Surrey, B.C.

Ms. Kaur is Sikh. She wears a turban. She earned an education degree in university, but graduated this year at the same time that the Quebec government enacted Bill 21, a discriminatory law that prohibits many provincial employees – including teachers – from wearing religious headgear or symbols at work.

Because of this restriction, Ms. Kaur has accepted a teaching position at the other end of the country, where she will be free to dress as she chooses ...

Secularism: Québecers are religious about it

https://theconversation.com/secularism-quebecers-are-religious-about-it-114799

The result of the Roman Catholic historic domination in Québec is that many French Québecers equate Québec culture with Catholic culture. They view non-Catholic expressions of religion as something foreign to Québec’s identity.

Although the decision to remove the crucifix was seen as a compromise by the government, Québecers answering a new poll felt differently. A survey indicated that 63 per cent of respondents believed that “crosses and other religious symbols that adorn public institutions should remain in their place because they are part of our heritage.”

Over the past 50 years, the religious practice of French-speaking Québecers who were baptized Catholic has dropped to historic lows. In 2014, a survey found only seven per cent of Catholics reported that they practised their faith on a weekly basis — the proportion was almost 100 per cent in 1960.

Analysis: Liberals dust off nationalist convictions to woo francophone voters

After two days of meetings, the Liberal youth wing has come up with a new series of nationalist policies designed to reconnect the party to francophones. The question remains. Is anybody listening?

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/liberals-dust-off-on-nationalist-convictions-to-woo-francophone-voters?fbclid=IwAR2so5QereSDVq_34M3iCWtw3eHaTx192Wq7X2zWu0SfsDY3k4WUPn7WMiY

QUEBEC — The Liberal quest is on for the elusive francophone voter.

After suffering its worst electoral defeat in 152 years in 2018, Quebec’s Liberals — in this case the youth wing — spent the weekend re-tooling party policies that they hope will eventually woo francophone voters in the regions back into their ranks.

The operation was clear from the get go: create a more nationalist profile for the party ...

NP: Why Quebec grocer would think she could ban English

No mystery why Quebec grocer would think ban her employees from speaking English | Full Comment | National Post

MONTREAL – Battling bad publicity generated Thursday by news that employees at one of its supermarkets in Quebec are prohibited from speaking English, Sobeys chief executive officer Marc Poulin called the store’s actions “unacceptable” and “totally unexplainable.”

In truth, it is no mystery why a Quebec grocer would think she had the right to dictate what language her workers spoke, even in their free time. She need only take her cue from the state, which routinely sends the message that French must prevail from the schoolyard to the boardroom.

In 2011, Quebec’s largest school board, the Commission scolaire de Montréal, announced plans to make its schools French-only zones.

Macpherson: Why Mathieu Bock-Côté matters in Quebec

The nationalism he advocates is neither racial nor, technically, ethnic. It is cultural, with a place for only one culture.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/macpherson-why-mathieu-bock-cote-matters-in-quebec?fbclid=IwAR28gxXlDb0eKWSgsWKvN24aIENdn-kJRhYEPyBMijv8q1lncOcjueBRi3U

In a book recently plugged by the premier of Quebec, a reader was startled to see an apology for defenders of symbols of an American pre-Civil War Southern “civilization” built on the whip-scarred backs of black plantation slaves.

Among these defenders, in their 2017 Charlottesville “confrontation” with “extreme-left militants” to which author Mathieu Bock-Côté refers, were neo-Nazis ...