Islam and blasphemy

Salam Elmenyawi of Montreal Islamic council says Islam protects freedom of speech, even regarding blasphemy, and denounces violent revenge for such.

Don Macpherson: Jean-François Lisée, potential threat to Pierre Karl Péladeau in Parti Québécois leadership campaign

http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/don-macpherson-jean-francois-lisee-potential-threat-to-pierre-karl-peladeau-in-parti-quebecois-leadership-campaign

Beware the politician who has nothing left to lose. For he or she can afford to have principles.
That’s what makes Jean-François Lisée potentially dangerous to front-runner Pierre Karl Péladeau in the Parti Québécois leadership campaign.
Lisée is facing the possibility that after less than three years in the National Assembly, his career in active politics is already nearing its end.

Sondage: 59% des Québécois en faveur d'une charte de la laïcité | Charte de la laïcité

Sondage: 59% des Québécois en faveur d'une charte de la laïcité | Charte de la laïcité

Un sondage SOM laisse croire que
les récents attentats en France ont ravivé certaines perceptions
négatives des Québécois à l'endroit des immigrants et des musulmans.

Les résultats du sondage commandité par Cogeco Nouvelles démontrent
que 16 % des répondants ont reconnu que leur perception des immigrants
avait changé négativement depuis les évènements de Paris.





Par ailleurs, 54 % des répondants estiment qu'on doit diffuser les
caricatures de Mahomet alors que 26 % s'opposent à leur publication; 20 %
demeurent indécis.

Québec planche sur un plan d'action pour lutter contre le radicalisme religieux | ICI.Radio-Canada.ca

Québec planche sur un plan d'action pour lutter contre le radicalisme religieux | ICI.Radio-Canada.ca



Québec prépare un plan d'action pour lutter contre la
montée du radicalisme religieux. La ministre de l'Immigration estime
qu'il y a urgence d'agir pour contrer l'intégrisme, il s'agit d'une
question de sécurité nationale. Kathleen Weil insiste : « il n'y a pas
une juridiction ou un État qui est à l'abri. On est tous à risque »
devant la menace terroriste.




La teneur du plan d'action pourrait être révélée d'ici la fin de l'année.




Pour mener à bien le plan d'action pour combattre l'intégrisme
religieux, la ministre Weil sollicitera la participation des ministres
de l'Éducation, de la Protection de la Jeunesse, de la Sécurité
publique, de la Famille et de l'Emploi.

Would Charlie Hebdo's material be constitutional in Quebec?

Evidently so; the French newspapers published the Charlie cartoons libelling the prophet Muhammad. of course they did. they would have to have respect for others to consider others' respect.

Charlie Hebdo Paris shooting: Quebec newspapers publish Muhammad cartoon

The Montreal Gazette, the English-language daily, decided not to run the same image, which was originally published in 2006.
The cartoon shows the half-hidden, grimacing face of the Prophet Muhammad, saying, "It's tough to be loved by idiots." 
In a joint statement published alongside the cartoon, the French-language newspapers explained they wanted to honour the victims of the Paris shootings and show their support for the “fundamental principle of freedom of expression.”
“Attacking someone simply for their ideas and opinions is an unacceptable affront to democracy,” the statement said.

Sugar Sammy's English ads did [NOT] break OQLF signage rules - Montreal - CBC News

Sugar Sammy's English ads did break OQLF signage rules - Montreal - CBC News

Montreal comedian Sugar Sammy
asked for — and received — a language complaint for his latest
advertising campaign, but was it all a crock?

The short answer is no [WRONG], but it certainly was designed to stoke the fiery flames of language debate in Quebec.

Advertising firm Sid Lee took
credit for the comedian's billboards put up late November goading people
into filing complaints with the Office québécois de la langue française.

Michael Den Tandt: Tom Mulcair is Ottawa’s best Parliamentarian — and yet he’s the only party leader likely to lose his job

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/01/04/michael-den-tandt-tom-mulcair-is-ottawas-best-parliamentarian-and-yet-hes-the-only-party-leader-likely-to-lose-his-job/

New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair is the most effective Parliamentarian working in Ottawa today. The opposition leader is ferociously intelligent, quick on his feet and naturally authoritative. In small groups, he can be gregarious and charming. He works hard. Add healthy ambition to the list and you have a package that should be yielding his party big political dividends.
Yet it hasn’t.
Indeed, Mulcair is the only leader of a federal party who stands a fair chance of losing his job following the federal election, tentatively slated for later this year. His candidates have been hammered in every byelection round since the May 2, 2011, general election. Outside Quebec, the NDP’s standing has plummeted. Its national popular support in the low 20 per cent range is, for a fringe party, pretty good. For one hoping to take power, it’s abysmal.

What our Supreme Court can teach Spain about secession

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/what-our-supreme-court-can-teach-spain-about-secession/article21125746/

It’s not often that you attend a symposium on constitutional law in Quebec and expect to be flummoxed. This in a province where, not that long ago, it was thought that children dreamed not of playing in the NHL but of teaching constitutional law.

But on a cold morning last December, in a small, dark room at the Université de Montréal, those in attendance witnessed an extraordinary political scene. There they were, in a high-noon intellectual shoot out: Stéphane Dion, father of the Clarity Act, and his old political foe, Joseph Facal, former intergovernmental minister in the PQ cabinet.

Don Macpherson: Comic Sugar Sammy's apparent defiance of Quebec's language law

http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/don-macpherson-comic-sugar-sammys-apparent-defiance-of-quebecs-language-law

Comic Sugar Sammy is good at making people laugh with his observations in French as well as English about life in Quebec. He’s also good at provoking hard-line nationalists to anger.
Last week, signs appeared in several Montreal métro stations advertising tickets for Sammy’s current standup shows. They prominently displayed a startling message, in English only: “For Christmas, I’d like a complaint from the Office de la langue française.”
It was a dare to the Office québécois de la langue française, the provincial government agency that enforces the Quebec language law familiarly known as Bill 101, which generally requires that French be predominant on commercial signs.

Louise Mailloux honorée par le Mouvement laïque | National

Louise Mailloux honorée par le Mouvement laïque | National

Le Mouvement laïque québécois
décerne cette année son Prix Condorcet-Dessaulles à la professeure,
auteure et polémiste Louise Mailloux pour souligner sa contribution à la
promotion et à la défense de la laïcité au Québec.

Le Mouvement estime que par ses fréquentes interventions dans les
médias et ses nombreux écrits, dont ses volumes «La Laïcité, ça
s'impose» et «Une Charte pour la nation», Louise Mailloux a contribué de
façon notoire à la liberté de conscience au Québec.





Louise Mailloux, une ex-candidate du Parti québécois qui défendait le
projet de Charte des valeurs, a souvent créé la controverse par ses
propos. Elle avait notamment présenté ses excuses le printemps dernier
aux personnes qu'elle aurait pu «offenser ou blesser» en qualifiant le
baptême ou la circoncision de viol.