Quebec Education Minister: No ban on religious symbols for students

Bill 94 to reinforce secularism in schools does not go far enough, according to the Mouvement laïque québécois (MLQ), which is calling for a ban on “religious dress” for students. The proposal was rejected by Education Minister Bernard Drainville.

The piece of legislation would extend the ban on the wearing of religious symbols to all public school staff, as well as to people working under agreements with schools.

The MLQ is asking that clothing such as the hijab and abaya be outlawed for students.

“These garments never come alone. They convey a discriminatory vision of the female sex, which is very often a banner of political Islam, accompanied by a morality that cannot harmonize with the ethics that public schools must inculcate,” said the group’s president, Daniel Baril, before a parliamentary commission on Thursday.

France has had a law along these lines since 2004, he pointed out.

The MLQ would also like to see the grandfather clause removed from the bill. This means that an employee currently employed by a school who wears a religious symbol would not be able to keep it on while at work.

“We believe this creates two categories of employees based on their start date,” argued Baril.

But Drainville said there was no question of agreeing to the MLQ’s demands. “We are proposing a Quebec model of secularism,” he said.

The CSN opposes

It’s a different story for the CSN, which is calling for the bill to be withdrawn altogether.

In particular, the central labour body opposes the extension of the ban on religious symbols, claiming that this will create “major problems in attracting support staff in certain school environments, at a time when staff shortages are already glaring and service disruptions are likely”.

They also criticize the use of the notwithstanding clause in the legislation, arguing that it “rakes far too wide a net”.

The CSN indicates that, should the legislation go ahead, it would like to see the grandfather clause extended so that a person who changes jobs in the education network can keep his or her religious symbol. She also wants this clause to apply to people who are currently studying.

The bill will also ban full-face veils in public and private schools, for both students and staff.

The piece of legislation was tabled in the wake of breaches of secularism observed in several Quebec schools, including Bedford in Montreal. Consultations began on Thursday.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews