(Quebec) The electoral platform of Quebec solidaire (QS) for the election of next year will be silent on the secularism of the state and on law 21 of the Legault government, which it opposes. The party intends to present its own conception of secularism in the coming months, but it will not campaign on the subject.
On the last day of the QS convention, constituency associations laid down the Law on State Secularism, or law 21, an issue that was not on the menu of the proposals initially submitted by the party authorities.
Following discussions as long as they were lively, the two amendments suggested by these associations were rejected, which, according to many, would have had the effect of sowing confusion about the party’s position. It was suggested that Bill 21 be amended to eliminate articles deemed discriminatory or that a reference be made to the Court of Appeal for the latter to examine the presence of clauses that violate fundamental rights.
“We should not have had any debate on this issue, because it was already resolved, we have a position against the law,” argued activist Fehr Marouf. It just serves to confuse the movement to give the impression that we are not directly against the law and that there are still things to discuss. There is nothing to discuss: it is a racist law, and we vote no! ”
For her part, Hélène Bissonnette said she was “a little shocked that we are having this discussion today” given that the party has already taken a position. “The job we have to do is say no to racism in Quebec, no to Bill 21, no to the wave of identity nationalism. I think we have a very clear message to send, and if it’s not us who are going to do it, who is going to do it? […] Law 21 is not a law on secularism, it is a law that is used to send racist sub-speech, in fact. It is a law that serves to attack oppressed minorities. I invite you to vote against it. ”
Other activists pleaded that it is better not to speak about this subject, “very difficult”, in the electoral platform. They won their case in the votes.
There is therefore nothing in the platform ratified on Sunday which deals with Law 21 and the secularism of the State.
Adopted under the gag order of the National Assembly in June 2019, the Law on State Secularism prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by teachers and directors of public schools, as well as by other state officials in positions of authority (police, correctional officers, lawyers and judges).
The party would not repeal Law 21
In the spring of 2019, during a national council, QS activists overwhelmingly rejected their party’s traditional position in favor of the recommendation of the Bouchard-Taylor report, which aimed to outlaw religious symbols for agents of the State with coercive power (police, prison guards, crown attorneys and judges). They had voted to oppose any ban.
Subsequently, notably during a press conference in parliament on April 20, the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Manon Massé, pleaded for the repeal of Bill 21. “When we take power, it There is no question that this law remains, ”she said.
However, QS leaders no longer say that Bill 21 would be repealed. If it is brought to power, the party would table a bill presenting its own “conception of secularism” and modifying “necessarily law 21”, explained Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois at a press conference.
It is a concept which “does not prevent people from going to teach in our public schools, for example”.
“As for the details, how would it work, what would happen to the notwithstanding provisions? [de la loi 21]… We are giving ourselves by the next election to finalize this detail and we will follow the debates at the Court of Appeal ”on Bill 21.
The parliamentary leader clarified that QS will not campaign on this issue, even if the party “is and will be against Law 21 in 2022″. “In the electoral platform, there will be no mention of Law 21. This means that the members of Québec solidaire affirm that the issue of Law 21 will not be one of the priorities of our electoral campaign and will not be one of the pillars of the project that we are going to present to Quebecers. [Ils] do not want to play in the identity polarization which seems to be François Legault’s strategy. ”
The congress enabled members to define the orientations of the electoral platform. The proposals adopted on Sunday largely resume commitments already made by QS in the past, such as the construction of 50,000 social housing units and the establishment of a commission of inquiry into systemic racism.