Now that the Parti Québécois is sworn in as Quebec’s minority government, one of its immediate priorities is what children wear to school.
“It’s non-negotiable. This is what we were elected to do,” Education Minister Joël Arseneau said Wednesday when asked if his party will stand firm on its electoral promise to ban elementary students from wearing religious symbols in schools.
“We’ll work to get it done.”
The PQ has promised to broaden provincial secularism laws, further tightening the rules put in place by the former Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government — rules that already included banning religious symbols on some public employees, like teachers, from wearing religious symbols.
A legal challenge of that law has made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, with lawyers claiming it raises serious concerns involving several Charter rights. Those legal proceedings are ongoing and a ruling is expected this fall.
But the plan to increase restrictions prompted religious leaders and a civil liberties group to come together and condemn the policy push.
In a statement Thursday, the Conseil National des Québécois Musulmans (CNQM) says Arseneau’s announcement “has raised serious concerns about religious freedom, equal access to public education and the place of religious minorities in Quebec society.”
School leaders have also warned that such a prohibition could undermine relationships between schools and families and that targeting children is not a good public policy goal, the statement says.
CNQM CEO Stephen Brown challenged the message the policy would send to kids, saying the move was an attack on children and their right to spirituality.
“That they’re not a member of society,” he said. “And that they are second-class citizens.”
Quebec’s secularism laws upended their lives. They fear what comes next could be worse
He added CAQ government originally said it was just going to be people in authority, but over the years the rules tightened to include daycare workers and public prayer.
“People need a permit to go pray,” he said. “Now we’re going to bar children from entering school if they don’t conform to the government
