(Quebec) Bernard Drainville promises to send a directive prohibiting public schools in Quebec from setting up a prayer room on their premises. Students who wish to meditate, he said, can do so in silence.
The Minister of Education corrected the situation on Wednesday, when he affirmed the day before at the Quebec newspaper that a prayer room in a school, if there was one, should above all be accessible to pupils of all religious denominations.
“There are all kinds of ways to pray. I cannot forbid prayer, [mais] I forbid prayer rooms in classrooms. Now, if someone wants to pray silently, it’s their fundamental right,” Mr. Drainville finally said before question period.
On Monday, Cogeco Nouvelles reported that two Laval high schools, École Mont-de-La Salle and École d’éducation internationale de Laval, had set up quiet rooms in classrooms, while groups of students prayed in inappropriate places, such as in stairwells or in the parking lot. 98.5 FM also cited the testimony of an employee of the School of International Education who claimed that a teacher would have improvised as an imam and that girls would have been refused entry to the premises.
Asked by The Press, the Laval school service center declared that the room for meditation at Mont-de-La Salle school was open to everyone, regardless of the religion or gender of the students. “Girls as well as boys could use the room. […] The contemplation had to be done individually and no spiritual or religious animation of the room was allowed. This place was non-denominational, ”it was said.
“With regard to the School of International Education of Laval, no place of meditation is currently accessible”, it was added.
At 98.5 FM on Tuesday, the director general of the school service center, Yves Michel Volcy, also said that no imam had entered the school and that the girls had not been excluded from the room.
What will the directive say?
Mr. Drainville, who is the father of the charter of values of the PQ government of Pauline Marois, said Wednesday that he would send a directive to all school service centers to specify that a prayer room cannot be set up. in a class. “My issue is the classrooms,” he said.
Honestly, school is not a place of prayer. It’s not complicated !
Bernard Drainville, Minister of Education
However, during his press scrum, Bernard Drainville did not specify whether his directive would allow a school to set up a room for meditation elsewhere in the establishment, such as in a gymnasium. Asked about this, his cabinet finally declared on Wednesday that the minister’s directive will target classrooms and all premises. Private schools and subsidized private schools that have places of prayer would not be targeted.
On leaving the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice and father of the State Secularism Act, Simon Jolin-Barrette, declined to comment on the news. The Minister responsible for Secularism, Jean-François Roberge, later affirmed that “in respect of the rule of law [et] of the law on secularism, it has been clearly established that our schools are secular. You cannot have prayer rooms in public schools in a secular state. »
The PQ fears a contagion effect
In a press briefing on Wednesday, PQ MP Pascal Bérubé for his part said that he feared a contagion effect through the school network if the Minister of Education did not immediately ban places of prayer.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Pascal Bérubé, Member of the Parti Québécois
“School is not a place of worship. If we accept what is happening in Laval, it becomes case law. There will be demands elsewhere,” he said.
We can pray alone, we will not necessarily realize it. But an organized practice of prayer in a room supervised by the school is not necessary.
Pascal Bérubé, Parti Québécois spokesperson for secularism and education
The Parti Québécois tabled a motion in the Blue Room which affirms that “the establishment of places of prayer, regardless of confession, in the premises of a public school goes against the principle of secularism”. Members of all political parties supported it.
After its adoption, Québec solidaire (QS) specified that the party “has no problem with meditation rooms” being set up in schools “if there are classrooms available and that these are accessible to all, regardless of faith or no faith”.
Liberal Party education spokesperson Marwah Rizqy said “first and foremost, school is a secular place whose fundamental mission is learning.”
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
Liberal Party Education Critic Marwah Rizqy
“Regarding the specific situation that has been reported in the media that a teacher allegedly led a prayer in a class and acted as an imam, and that girls were denied access, it is worrying. and unacceptable,” she added.
It is up to Minister Drainville to establish a directive with clear guidelines that will ensure that the principles of state secularism, gender equality and freedom of religion are respected.
Marwah Rizqy, Liberal Party Critic for Education
The President and CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Stephen Brown, said for his part “very concerned” by the exit of Minister Drainville. His organization, which challenges the State Secularism Act before the courts, eagerly awaits the publication of the directive.
“It really seems to me to be a political question and not a question of law. The government should not dictate to people how they should collect themselves. We are once again trading in minority rights to “score” political issues in the news. That’s what’s most disappointing,” he said.