Law 21 banning religious symbols among certain state employees has brought social peace to Quebec, maintains Minister Jean-François Roberge, who is preparing to protect it from the courts for another five years.
• Read also: The Legault government is preparing to renew the protection of the Law on State Secularism
“There is a kind of social consensus at the moment which is very, very strong. We have social cohesion, we have social peace and that has great value. When we look at what is happening everywhere on the planet, we must not underestimate the value of social cohesion, then the importance of having a peaceful life together in Quebec,” argues the minister responsible for Secularism, in interview.
Jean-François Roberge will table a bill on Thursday “allowing the Parliament of Quebec to preserve the principle of parliamentary sovereignty with regard to the Law on State Secularism.”
Everything indicates that it is by this means that the Legault government will renew the derogation clause of Bill 21, which allows it to be removed from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for five years. This is a preventive measure to protect against appeals to the courts.
The minister maintains that the Law on State Secularism, which notably prohibits the veil, the kippah, the turban and Christian crosses among state employees in positions of authority, is “a treasure to be preserved” and an important “legacy” of the CAQ government.
Before its adoption, Quebec was grappling with a debate marked by animosity and verbal violence. “There were people who didn’t feel safe,” he insists. I think it has calmed the social climate and no one should go back.”
- Listen to the interview with Jean-François Roberge, Minister of the French Language with Mario Dumont via QUB:
The neutrality of teachers
A teacher by training and former Minister of Education, he is firmly convinced that it was necessary to go so far as to prevent teachers and school principals from openly displaying their faith.
“I’m also a dad, and when we send our kids to school, we expect the person who’s going to take care of them […] be exemplary and that, both in what it is and in what it projects, there is neutrality, pleads the minister. Children are extremely impressionable.
Jean-François Roberge even raises the case of newcomers who have fled conflicts and religious wars and who may misperceive a person in authority wearing a religious symbol. “We don’t want to import conflicts into classroom environments, into places of learning.”
“The Canadian balance”
To the federal Liberals who are secretly campaigning to limit the use of the notwithstanding clause, the Quebec Minister of Secularism replies that there is no question of restricting the use of this tool.
“It is part of the Canadian balance, that is to say to have federal laws, to have a federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is strong, but to have a counterbalance with a renewable derogation clause to the five years. It allows Canada to function and it allows strong nations like Quebec to make their differences heard.”