Quebec’s proposed secularism law is repugnant. Here are six reasons why.

Michael Coren: Faith should never guarantee a place in the public square, but nor should it disqualify someone, anyone, from participation

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/quebecs-proposed-secularism-law-is-repugnant-here-are-six-reasons-why/

Next week I finish my Masters of Divinity degree at Trinity College, University of Toronto. For three years I’ve been studying the form, history, foundation, politics, language and philosophy of religion. I’ve mixed with people of almost all faiths, discovered much from and about them, and also been strengthened on my own religious path.
The academic study of religion does not make one naïve or credulous, and much as I love God, I’m extremely aware of the horrors committed, historically and in our own age, in the deity’s name. I also believe in the separation of church and state, which when implemented properly should benefit and protect both institutions. But the Quebec government’s proposed secularism law is repugnant and dangerous.
The Coalition Avenir Québec’s law will prevent public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as a hijab, kippa or turban so as to, it claims, ensure “a balance between the collective rights of the Quebec nation and human rights and freedoms.”

Quebec's face-covering law suspended for second time, with judge citing rights concerns

Section 10 of Quebec's law on religious neutrality, passed in October 2017, forces everyone to show their faces when receiving or giving a public service

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/quebec-judge-once-again-suspends-application-of-provinces-face-covering-law

MONTREAL — Quebec’s law banning people from covering their faces when receiving or giving a public service cannot enter into force until it goes through judicial review because of the irreparable harm it will cause Muslim women, a judge ruled Thursday.

It is the second time since December a Quebec judge has suspended the controversial section of the province’s religious neutrality law, which is being challenged in court by a national Muslim group and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Khalid Elgazzar, Vice-Chair of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said the ruling by Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc-Andre Blanchard was “very strongly worded.” ...

What's in Quebec's secularism bill: Religious symbols, uncovered faces and a charter workaround

We've highlighted key points in the bill, tabled on Thursday by the CAQ government

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-laicity-secularism-bill-1.5075547

The Quebec government has tabled its long-awaited secularism bill, laying down proposed ground rules it says will ensure the religious neutrality of the state.
Bill 21, entitled "An Act respecting the laicity of the State," is 16 pages long. Here are some key points and passages:
The preamble to the bill explains the Coalition Avenir Québec government's motivation. The Quebec nation, it says, "has its own characteristics, one of which is its civil law tradition, distinct social values and a specific history that [has] led it to develop a particular attachment to state laicity."

English Montreal School Board will let teachers wear religious symbols

The English Montreal School Board will not enforce a law that would ban teachers or other employees from wearing religious symbols at work.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/english-montreal-school-board-will-let-teachers-wear-religious-symbols

The English Montreal School Board adopted a resolution Wednesday declaring its refusal to enforce any law that prohibits its teachers and other employees from wearing religious symbols on the job.
“The Quebec government has stated its intent to propose legislation to prohibit the wearing of religious symbols for all persons in a position of authority, including teachers,” said EMSB chairman Angela Mancini. “We believe in the secularity of the state while still supporting an individual’s right to freedom of religion.”
In 2014, the EMSB declared it would not implement the measures outlined in the former Parti Québécois government’s charter of values, and in a resolution approved by commissioners at Wednesday’s council meeting, the board indicated it will take the same stance against the Coalition Avenir Québec’s proposed law.

Religious symbols: CAQ 'convinced we have found the right balance'

Big or small, the size of the symbol doesn't matter because all symbols of all faiths are banned in the CAQ's newly tabled secularism bill.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/religious-symbols-quebec-to-table-secularism-bill-caq-will-propose-moving-crucifix

QUEBEC — Amid accusations it is legalizing discrimination, the Legault government Thursday defended its new secularism bill as a balanced, human proposal that is entirely within its power to adopt as a province within the Canadian federation.
And the minister responsible for Bill 21, Simon Jolin-Barrette, said he expects groups threatening to not respect the legislation to conform to what will be the new law of the land.
“Listen, I think people are reasonable,” Jolin-Barrette, the minister of immigration, diversity and inclusiveness said at a news conference after tabling the bill. “I am convinced people targeted by the bill will respect the law.”

Macpherson: A call to 'extinguish' minority dissent in Quebec

Quebec's most-read daily publishes a column denouncing "enemies," which its author admits might be used by the "violently prejudiced."

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/macpherson-a-call-to-extinguish-minority-dissent-in-quebec?fbclid=IwAR25Ozl5T756sKLPQvCK_mVLEFBkVzt7BdCI8TqvKZlK_NPM30iO1B091ts

A denunciation of members of minorities who complain of their treatment in Quebec as “enemies … of French-speaking Quebec.”

With it, a call to “extinguish these hotbeds of intolerance,” in a message the writer acknowledges might be used by the “hotheaded and violently prejudiced.”

Just another rant from someone in the online hate community hiding behind a pseudonym, exceptional only for its lack of spelling mistakes?

No, a column published in Quebec’s most-read daily and on its website, and promoted on the province’s most popular television network, all properties of Pierre Karl Péladeau’s Québecor media empire.

Quebec's attempt to gather info on what teachers wear violated charter rights, union says

'When there is rule of law in Canada, you should not have to choose between your faith and your job,' FAE says

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-fae-charter-religious-symbols-1.5071864

A labour federation representing Quebec teachers is taking legal action against the provincial government for its attempt to track how many teachers wear a religious symbol such as a hijab or kippa.
The Fédération autonome de l'Enseignement (FAE), which represents 43,000 teachers in the public school system, argues in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the move violated Quebec's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
The government tried twice to collect that information — once under the CAQ, in January 2019, and once under for the former Liberal government, in June 2018, the FAE said.

CCLA: BILL 62 (NIQAB BAN) GUIDELINES CANNOT SAVE AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW

https://ccla.org/bill-62-niqab-ban-guidelines-cannot-save-unconstitutional-law/

(Ottawa – May 11, 2018) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), two prominent civil liberties & advocacy organizations, say recently issued guidelines for granting exemptions under Quebec’s Bill 62 “niqab ban” are inherently problematic and do nothing to save a law that is fundamentally unconstitutional.

Last October, the NCCM and CCLA filed a lawsuit seeking a stay on the application of Section 10 of the new law, which requires individuals to uncover their faces in order to receive basic public services, including healthcare, social assistance, and public transit. The Quebec Superior Court granted the stay in December pending the release of official guidelines for the requesting and granting of exemptions to the law on the basis of religious accommodation. The guidelines were released on Wednesday by the Quebec government.

“These guidelines do not fix a law that is, at its core, discriminatory and unconstitutional. Requiring Muslim women who wear the niqab to make an application for exemption every time they wish to access basic public services such as healthcare and transit places a further undue burden on them. In our view, these guidelines only reinforce the convoluted and flawed nature of Bill 62,” says NCCM Vice Chair Khalid Elgazzar ...

Quebec minister for women stands by belief that hijabs are oppressive

Isabelle Charest also refuted the idea that the CAQ's soon-to-be tabled secularism legislation targets Muslim women.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/quebec-minister-for-women-stands-by-belief-that-hijabs-are-oppressive

QUEBEC — With the opposition parties denouncing her remarks as divisive, Quebec’s minister for the status of women Wednesday refused to back down from her statement that she finds the hijab oppressive.
Instead she went further, saying all religious symbols can be a sign of oppression.
“I stand by what I said yesterday,” Isabelle Charest told reporters arriving for a morning meeting of the Coalition Avenir Québec caucus. “I don’t regret the way I answered the question.

29 JUN 18: CCLA & NCCM SUCCESSFULLY OBTAIN RENEWED STAY AGAINST QUEBEC’S BILL 62

https://ccla.org/ccla-nccm-successfully-obtain-renewed-stay-quebecs-bill-62/

(Ottawa – June 29, 2018) The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), two prominent civil liberties & advocacy organizations, have successfully obtained a further stay of section 10 of Quebec’s religious neutrality law, commonly known as Bill 62.

Last December, the Quebec Superior Court granted the CCLA and NCCM an interim stay until July 1, 2018, pending the Quebec government’s release of official guidelines governing how the restriction on face coverings when giving or receiving public services would work in practice, including the process for granting exemptions for religious reasons.

Following the release of the official guidelines in May, the CCLA and NCCM returned to court last week to argue that the guidelines were inadequate for preventing serious and irreparable harm to Muslim women who choose to veil their faces on the basis of their sincerely-held religious beliefs.