Quebec’s ‘Imposed Secularism’

Quebec’s proposed Charter of Quebec Values imitates the “unjust” imposition of antireligious secularism in France, said the Canadian constitutional lawyer and religious freedom expert Iain Benson. “The recent proposals from Quebec mirror those from France, where both countries continue to exert their antireligious fervor under the false flags of neutrality,” said Benson. “Banning religious symbolism from the public sphere does not banish the relevance of religion,” he said. “It just perpetuates the domination of secularism in these two jurisdictions.” Imposed secularism will not work “because it is unjust,” he said. Quebec’s Parti Québecois government said it planned to introduce the charter this fall. It would prohibit anyone in the public sector from wearing obvious visible signs of religious adherence. Any large symbol of religious faith would be prohibited, as would Muslim head scarves or hijabs, Jewish kippahs or yarmulkes and Sikh turbans. Anyone working in health care, education, publicly funded day care and the justice system would be affected by the ban.