Quebec’s “secularism” law set to ruin more lives as government announces proposed ban on public prayers

Quebec's secularism law has not only fuelled individual acts of hate but also energized white supremacist and anti-Muslim hate groups, who find validation in its anti-Muslim agenda. 

 
By Fareed Khan

In a disturbing escalation of its controversial secularism policies, the Quebec government, led by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) under Premier François Legault, has announced plans to ban prayers in public spaces and extend Bill 21’s restrictions to public day cares. These measures build on the 2019 act, which prohibits public employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols, disproportionately targeting Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews who visibly express their faith. After six years of legal challenges in Quebec the law has finally reached the Supreme Court.

While Quebec defends these policies as promoting state neutrality, the manner in which the CAQ has implemented its interpretation of secularism, coupled with the anti-religious fervour apparent in the debate around the bill, demonstrates that the de facto state religion of Quebec is radical atheism, shrouded in the language of extremist secularism. Opponents of Bill 21 have no issue with the concept of the separation of church and state. But elevating atheistic principles to the level of state-sanctioned ideology in the guise of promoting secularism, and forcing public sector workers to be ambassadors of that government-sanctioned ideology contrary to their inherent beliefs, is no different than advocating an official state religion.

The actions of Legault’s government make it clear that not only is it against public sector workers showing visible expressions of their faith, but it is also in favour of those same workers presenting atheism as the official face of the Quebec government to the public as part of their jobs.

Quebec court’s refusal to grant injunction against “secularism” law during constitutional challenge shows systematic prejudice towards racialized religious minorities in Quebec’s justice system

By Fareed Khan

 
The refusal by a Quebec Superior Court judge to suspend application of certain sections of the Quebec government's "secularism" law (Bill 21), while a constitutional challenge works its way through the courts, shows how ingrained and pervasive the stereotypes at the heart of this issue truly are, and that the judge doesn’t accept the negative impact of the bill on those most affected.  It also shows how deeply rooted the biases against racialized religious minorities are not just in Quebec society broadly, but also within Quebec's justice system, which is supposed to protect the rights of minority communities.  What else would explain the decision to allow the continued enforcement of a law that violates the fundamental Charter guaranteed rights and civil liberties of Quebec's religious minorities, while there are legal challenges to the law underway?

 

 

A Superior Court judge in Montreal announced the decision to refuse the request for a stay of the law made by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) on July 18th.  In addition, the CCLA and NCCM had sought an injunction to freeze the two most controversial sections of the law, which included measures to ban the wearing of religious symbols and clothing by public school teachers and other public authority figures in the workplace.

It has been common practice, since the Charter of Rights became law, for laws that may be unconstitutional to be temporarily suspended as the legal challenges worked their way through the justice system and a final decision is rendered, usually by the Supreme Court.  Such actions are generally taken to prevent the application of a law that could be deemed unconstitutional from violating the rights of Canadians during the legal process.  The fact that the judge refused to impose the requested injunction, despite numerous legal precedents across Canada where such action has been taken in previous constitutional challenges, raises the question as to whether Quebec's legal system has been infected by the ideology of what can be termed “radical secularism”.

This refusal by the Quebec courts to impose the requested injunction sends a message that inequality, intolerance, exclusion, segregation and isolation of those who visibly practice their faith in Quebec are completely acceptable.  This is the sort of law that one expects to see under a fascist regime, because it is about targeting, isolating, demonizing and punishing visibly religious minority communities and stripping them of their rights.  The fact that this is happening in Canada is unbelievable.

There have been incidents in Quebec courts in the past where members of religious minorities have been told by judges to remove head coverings worn as an article of faith.  The most recent example involved Quebec court Judge Eliana Marengo who refused to allow a Muslim woman to appear in her court wearing a hijab.  Marengo's case is currently before Quebec's judicial council where a request has been made to remove her from the bench for her alleged misconduct.

While those opposed to Bill 21 may have lost this first skirmish the battle won't stop here, and an appeal of the Quebec court's decision is guaranteed, as is the fact that this will end up at the Supreme Court.  The diversity of Quebec communities that are opposed to this violation of fundamental rights by the Quebec government are determined in their conviction that this unjust law must be withdrawn.  Of course, the fly in the ointment is that while this law works its way up to the Supreme Court there are thousands of Quebecers whose rights will be violated and livelihoods threatened under this legislation.

The CCLA and NCCM are expected to lay out their next steps in response to the Quebec Superior Court's decision in the coming days and weeks before the Quebec Court of Appeal.  As rights activists wait for this there is growing moral support coming from provincial and municipal governments from outside Quebec, as well as from ordinary Canadians.  This is an indication about how much Canadians value defending the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that the Quebec government stands alone in its bigoted attitude towards how Canadians practice their faith.

© 2019 The View From Here.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All rights reserved.

Passage of Quebec’s Bill 21 is a declaration of war by Francois Legault on people of faith, particularly Quebec’s racialized religious minorities

By Fareed Khan
 
Following a weekend of intense debate and voting in the Quebec National Assembly last week, Premier Francois Legault’s CAQ government passed its much criticized “secularism” bill (Bill 21), with Parti Quebecois members also supporting the legislation. Members of the National Assembly from the Liberal and Quebec Solidaire parties voted against the bill.

 

Passage of this bill is a dark day for Quebec. It is nothing short of a declaration of war on freedom of religion in the province, a blatant violation of the Charter rights of people of faith (particularly racialized, religious minorities), and an example of radical atheism shrouded in the language of extremist secularism.By passing this bill into law Legault has energized two groups of people in Quebec. He has energized bigots, racists, and those with a prejudice against the increasingly multicultural face of Quebec, who support this bill. But he has also energized anti-racism activists and those who support human rights and our charter rights to now carry the fight forward against what civil liberties and human rights lawyers have called an assault on fundamental freedoms.

Legault claims that this bill is about keeping Quebec society secular. However, this is not what this bill does. Secularism is the principle of the state refraining from declaring an official state religion. What this bill does is it enshrines in law the ideology that atheism is the state “religion”, and the government is going to impose it on anybody who decides to display their faith and work in the public sector.

Even more worrisome is a last minute government amendment to the bill that would create what the opposition Liberals likened to an anti-religious “secularism police force”, similar to the “religious police” found in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. The legislation itself is odious, but this amendment is inexcusable since it is the sort of thing that one finds in repressive authoritarian regimes which try to control the lives of their citizens.

Passage of the bill has elicited condemnation from various human rights and civil liberties groups, as well as from organizations representing the Muslim, Jewish and Sikh communities. In addition, a legal challenge to the law has already been filed in Quebec Superior Court by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) and the National Council of Canadian Muslims.

In the court filing the CCLA called the law “impermissibly vague, impossible to apply equally, and a blatant attack on religious freedom.” Both groups have also argued that the ban “violates religious freedoms and discriminates against a woman’s right to equal treatment in the workplace.”

The passage of Bill 21 is the latest sign of the rising tide of bigotry targeting religious minorities, and particularly Muslims, that has found deep roots in Quebec, including evidently among certain segments of the political class. This battle has been on-going since the appointment of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on “reasonable accommodation” by Premier Jean Charest in 2007. However, until Legault and the CAQ came to power no government was willing to openly violate the fundamental religious freedoms of its minority faith communities, and override the rights guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by invoking the “notwithstanding” clause.

Premier Legault’s justification for this bill is that he has a mandate, and that the bill is supported by a majority of Quebecers. However, at one time a majority of people supported denying women the right to vote. At one time a majority supported denying rights to the LGBTQ community. There are many past examples of immoral and unjust laws that were once supported by the majority, but that didn’t make them right, and Bill 21 falls into the same category.

By declaring war on people of faith Premier Legault will find that he has bitten off more than he can chew, and will come to regret siding with the voices of prejudice and bigotry in Quebec rather than supporting those who call for upholding human rights and civil liberties.

© 2019 Fareed Khan.  © 2019 Fareed Khan.  All rights reserved.