The least we can say is that François Legault’s tweet according to which “Catholicism has also engendered in us a culture of solidarity which distinguishes us on a continental scale” aroused an outcry as much on the social media than within the political class. However, five hours after its publication, faced with a myriad of criticisms, the Prime Minister felt the need to explain himself by replying that “we must distinguish between secularism and our heritage”, a justification that did not have the happy to satisfy the thirst of critics.
For his part, an employee of the Prime Minister’s Office, Martin Plante, defended Mr. Legault by tweeting that “secularism in no way implies the obligation to deny our heritage or a duty to erase our religious heritage. We can be proud of it, while defending the secularism of the State”.
For his part, true to his sense of balance, the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, instead called on Internet users to “enjoy the good weather with the family” while alleging that “there are several things to say about the heritage of Catholicism in Quebec, but I submit to you that a discussion on Twitter will not do us much good”.
Finally, as far as I am concerned, François Legault is playing a dangerous game when he condemns prayer in Muslim schools, arguing that this practice goes against secularism (which I fully agree with), whereas he circumvents the reference to secularism by associating Catholicism with our heritage. In this sense, François Legault’s tweet is clumsy to say the least, even compromising, and falls into the trap of double standards.
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