Much Ado

When news of the PQ government in Quebec's intention to pass a law became public, the backlash was immediate from the rest of Canada. The Parti Quebecois' proposed Charter of Quebec Values, Bill 60, had critics furiously suggesting that the PQ was embarking on a severely socially divisive path to creating an apartheid society of sorts. Those who embraced Quebec's secularist charter were the in group, those who flaunted their religiosity too prominently were definitely out.

Out, that is, from employment in any capacity by the provincial government. This would impact schools at all levels, including universities, child care institutions, hospitals, the judiciary, the police; government workers generally, in an all-encompassing sweep cleansing those representing the provincial government authority at any level of their untidy habit of wearing conspicuous religious symbols.

Examples were given of a turban, an oversized cross or Star of David, a kippa, and Muslim head or face covering of any design, clearly identifying the wearer with the religion they worshipped. As an affront, or a kind of waiver on the civil code of sartorial conduct. A gross intolerance in a pluralist, basically tolerant society that has learned to accept visible differences between people of various cultures and religions.

The predictions were that Quebecers, sensible and sensitive to injustice as they are, would never agree to such a draconian law, insulting to the cosmopolitan nature of people living in the province. Of course, such a law might find agreement in the backwoods of Quebec, in the largely rural areas, and certainly any such outside Montreal and Quebec City. The PQ would be forced to retreat, tail between their legs.

Pauline Marois smiled serenely and Democratic Institutes Minister Bernard Drainville politely but firmly denied that the proposed Charter would in any manner demean anyone; it was meant to support the province's secular values and that was that. The choice could be made; if employment with a provincially-funded body was valuable to the worker, they could see fit to set aside their religious identification during the working day.

Democratic Institutions Minister Bernard Drainville, right, has said the charter’s ban religious articles is ‘an essential and inescapable condition of the bill.’  (Jacques Boissinot/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

 

Demonstrators marched in defiance of Bill 60, wearing the offending symbols lest anyone doubt their commitment to upholding freedom of expression, association and religion, cherished Canadian values guranteed in law by the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And the studied response of the PQ to the ferocious push-back was not to withdraw, but to reconsider and tighten the bill even more.

After all the furor it now appears that the hugely unpopular secessionist government has suddenly found itself in majority territory should an election be called anytime soon. A recent Leger poll put the PQ ahead of the Liberals, 36% to 33%, 43-25% among francophones. Almost half of all Quebecers -- 48% -- support the bill, translating to 57% francophone support and 18% among Quebec's linguistic minorities.

The ban on religious symbols attracts greater support at 60% overall, with 69% among francophones, a hefty increase since September. And here's another bit of a surprise, while support for the bill is high outside cities, it is almost as high in Quebec City and Montreal. As for the opposition parties, they haven't completely separated themselves from the bill or the religious clothing ban.

In fact, the most sensible recommendation is that of the Liberals who had years earlier commissioned the Bouchard-Taylor commission on "reasonable accommodation", which had come back with the recommendation that police and judges, those in positions of authority not wear religious identification in the commission of their public duties.

Party Leader Philippe Couillard suggested his party would permit public servants to wear the kippa and the hijab, excluding the burka and the niqab, both face coverings. Sounds like a sensible resolution of a highly-explosive social engineering situation certain, if brought into law as is, to face a dwindling ethnic population exiting the province, and a challenge under the federal Charter.

But in fact, social conformity in a secular society's public face giving service to its population seems like a no-brainer. Canadian values and customs are those of the majority. Canada is not a particularly religious country, even though it is a majority Christian country. At one time there were nuns who dressed in religious costume; they too have, like Quebec's loosening of its Catholic roots, adapted to a secular appearance.