Quebec's Proposed "Charter of Values" is Just Official Bigotry With a Fancy Title

Updated September 11, 2013  6:27 PM

© 2013 Pascal/Montreal Gazette.

August 28, 2013 -- The recent admission by the government of Quebec that they would introduce a "Charter of Values" which would ban the wearing of religious attire or symbols by employees of the provincial government and publicly funded institutions has, understandably, elicited a very emotional response.  The criticism of the proposal by groups representing various faiths has been very vocal.  Disturbingly, so has support of the proposal by a significant segment of the population in Quebec.

For people of various faiths whether to wear a visible symbol of their faith is (for the most part) a personal choice.  It is a choice that is protected under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms under the freedom of religion clause.  The proposal by the Parti Quebecois government would limit that right and thereby discriminate against people of any faith where the wearing of religious attire or symbols is an article of those faiths.

Orthodox Sikh men are mandated by their religion to wear certain articles as a practice of their faith, one of them being a turban.  For Orthodox Jews it is the same, they are mandated by their interpretation of their faith to wear certain visible articles of clothing.  The same is the case for conservative Jewish men who wear a kipa on their head.  For many Catholics and Christians of other denominations the wearing of a crucifix is a personal article of faith.  And with some Muslim women the wearing of the hijab to cover their hair is believed to be a religious obligation.  In none of these cases does the wearing of these articles of faith impose the faith of the individual wearing them on others.  But for some people seeing others wearing visible symbols of their faith is offensive or an affront and these people want these practices banned despite constitutional protections.

History is filled with instances where the dominant faith within a society took exception to the religious practices of the minorities living among them because they felt offended by or feared in some way the religious practices of the minorities, or just because the religious minorities were different. These perceived offences and fears led to atrocities committed in the name of the dominant faiths in societies throughout history, and people of all faiths have been guilty of committing atrocities against people of minority faiths.  The most recent atrocities occurred in the 1990s during the Yugoslav War which saw the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.  The conflict resulted in genocide and atrocities not seen in Europe on this scale since World War II.

One would think that in a politically developed and well-educated country like Canada attempting to suppress the religious practices of a minority would be a relic of history.  But it seems that bigotry and fear of "the other" still pervades certain segments of the population, and particularly so in Quebec which has a documented history of xenophobia.  The Parti Quebecois proposal to introduce a Charter of Values is an effort by that party (which is in a minority government situation) to use fear of "the other" to cater to a bigoted minority in order to gain their votes at the next Quebec election in the hope of winning a majority.

Under the Canadian Constitution governments are supposed to be neutral when it comes to religion.  What that means is that there is to be no state mandated religion, that governments cannot officially advocate a particular faith, and governments cannot prevent citizens from practicing their faith.  By extension, it also means that governments cannot impose their view of neutrality of faith on an individual in their personal religious practices, even if those practices require the wearing of religious attire or symbols that a broad segment of the public may find offensive (for whatever reason).

In the 19th and first half of the 20th century discrimination against Catholics was seen as acceptable in Protestant Canada.  From Confederation well into the 20th century racism against the Chinese (who came to work on the building of our railways) was seen as acceptable.  In another time Canadian public opinion and apathy accepted institutional and societal racism against Blacks, Jews and Canada's First Nations people.  Within our lifetime it was public opinion and apathy which permitted institutional and societal discrimination against gays and lesbians.  But in all these instances Canada became less intolerant and more accepting of people's differences over time, and realized the immorality of the bigoted and racist attitudes of the past.  We became a more inclusive and freer society with most people believing that we are the better for it.  This has made Canada a country to which many around the world want to immigrate.  If the Quebec government's proposal is implemented, that image will be severely tarnished and Canada will be seen as a less tolerant and less welcoming society.

There is a famous poem attributed to German pastor and theologian Martin Niemöller about the apathy of the German people following the Nazis' rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.  He did not speak out when the purges began, but when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned and became the leader of a group opposed to Hitler.  For this offence he was arrested and interred in a concentration camp until the end of World War II.

There are various iterations of the poem but they all follow a similar pattern.  Here is one version of that poem:

First they came for the communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,

and by that time there was no one left to speak up.

It has been proven time and again that people fail to learn from history.  And if the PQ proposal goes forward this will be another occasion where the lessons of the history of discrimination and bigotry against minorities, and the pain and suffering it caused, will be forgotten.

The people who support the PQ proposal are obviously not students of history.  What they don't understand is that if the Quebec government implements its Charter of Values as it has been proposed it will be the first step on a slippery slope and will turn the clock back on the progress that has been made with Canadian society's acceptance of differences and diversity.  If it is accepted it will take us back to a dark place in our history where institutional intolerance against minorities was acceptable.  If the proposal is implemented it will beg the question, if this government is willing to violate the rights and freedoms of religious minorities now, then which minority rights will they target next?

© F. Khan.  All Rights Reserved.