Quebec’s new secularism bill faces backlash over religious symbol ban in daycares

The Quebec government’s new Bill 9 —restricting religious symbols and prayer in public spaces— has left many people concerned, including Mehwaish Raja and Gabby Kazzaz, daycare professionals in Montreal’s West Island.

“It doesn’t sound real, it sounds like a dream that we’re living in this reality at the moment,” said Raja.

Kazzaz saying, “It feels like an attack because the government is forcing us to choose between our identity and our careers.”

Adding, “It is very unfair. That’s not what made our great grandparents were four generation Canadian. That’s not the reason why they came here. Not for us to have our fundamental rights stripped off. So it is very upsetting. It’s disappointing, it’s deceiving, and it’s not the Quebec that we’ve known. It’s very foreign to us.”

Founded 11 years ago, Montessori Kiddy Kat Preschool and Daycare employs 10 teachers from diverse backgrounds and faiths and serves about 30 children. Its owner & director, Mehwaish Raja, said Bill 9 introduced Thursday by Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge, could harm children’s education and future.

“Here, our children, when they see the teachers that are teaching them, they like to be able to relate to them. If we’re stripping away their faith and their personalities, I feel that the children, who are they relating to, who are they being inspired by. So I think it’ll be a very detrimental effect on our families and the children as well when it becomes to representing,” said Raja.

“Montessori Kiddy Kat is here for all teachers, all families, in our diverse and inclusive environment. So, whether or not this bill passes, I choose to say that we will be sticking with our teachers and our families here regardless of their faith and their background.”

Kazzaz adding, “Quebec is part of a world as well, a diverse world. So, with people from different backgrounds, different faiths, and different skin colours. So when we remove this aspect from a child’s life or a child’s environment, we are limiting that exposure to differences and tolerance eventually as well.”

Adding, “Hijab is an identity. Hijab says much more about me than anything else. It’s a choice that I make. It’s a set of values that it shows… It says about me, you know, so I’m a loyal person, I’m loving, I’m caring. All of this is representative by my hijab. So that’s what it is for me.”

In Outremont, Anita Bartha, director of a daycare located on the Dawson College campus said, “We are a multicultural society, so I feel it’s important to expose the children. So we do show them like different holidays, of course never a religious aspect of it, just to let them know that people do celebrate different holidays. It could be very similar to ours, or at the same time as the holidays that we celebrate, but at least it’s showing them that there are different holidays by different families.”

Anne-Marie Bellerose, president of the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ), affiliated with the CSQ, is calling on the CAQ government to impose a moratorium on Bill 9.

“We agree with the principle of secularism—there’s no issue with that. But what concerns us is introducing a new rule that removes religious symbols. First, are there any studies showing that a daycare worker wearing a veil has an impact on young children? That’s the first question.”

Adding, “And second, has anyone analyzed the consequences of this measure? We already have thousands of vacant positions in the network. So what will happen if this goes through? That’s why we’re asking for a pause—a moratorium—to study the issue properly. Then we can figure out what the best decision would be.”

“I have had students in the past that have been wearing burqas and hijabs. And it did not affect the way they interacted with the children,” added Bartha. “Actually, it was a very good thing because the children were curious and they were asking a lot of questions and they wanted to know why were they different, why were they wearing that. And, you know, so again, it gives them the opportunity to understand and to learn something that they may not have been exposed to otherwise.”