Pro-Charter rally in Montreal draws hundreds in favour of 'values' legislation

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, September 22, 2013 4:37PM EDT
Last Updated Monday, September 23, 2013 12:12AM EDT

MONTREAL -- Supporters of Quebec's charter of values numbered in the hundreds as they descended on downtown Montreal calling for a secular state and urging the government to go forward with its plan to push state employees to leave their religious garb at home.

The Parti Quebecois government formally announced its plan earlier this month, one that would prohibit state employees from wearing overt religious symbols. That would include everyone from judges and police officers to daycare and health care workers and school teachers.

Several hundred gathered in a Montreal square on Sunday and marched to voice their support for the Parti Quebecois' controversial secular plan for public sector employees.

"If we don't have religious symbols, I think it's easier to accept each other for all societies," said Robert Carrier, one of those on hand.

Polls commissioned in recent weeks have suggested a deep divide among Quebecers over the controversial charter. Those same polls have also suggested that support for it has been dropping.

But those who gathered under a light rain on Sunday said it's necessary to have such rules to be able to live together. They argue that religion is creeping into everyday Quebec society and it causes strife between citizens.

Daphne Poirier said she has friends who are Jewish and Arab and they all have different views on their own religion -- some are more observant while others have a more lax attitude. In the end, it has little impact on her personal dealings with them.

"My friendship goes beyond their system of values," said Poirier, a translator who defines herself as an atheist. She says she doesn't push her beliefs on anyone and doesn't think others should be able to on her.

"I respect everybody and what they do when they go to the synagogue or when they go to a mosque, that's their (business)," she said. "But I don't think it belongs in the public space."

Sunday's rally was the first one in favour of the charter and came on the heels an anti-charter rally in the provincial capital on Saturday and a significantly larger anti-charter march in Montreal a little over a week ago.

Marchers carried cutout fleur-de-lis and Quebec flags. They carried signs that read "'we're born naked and everything else is superfluous" and "secularism that's open to closed religions doesn't work."

The group included very few visible minorities.

But it also included those who feel the charter doesn't go far enough, namely when it comes to the cross that hangs in the Quebec legislature above the Speaker's chair. That one was spared under the PQ plan, with the reason that they are key to Quebec's cultural history.

"If we really want to separate church and religion, then we have to go all the way and the cross at the national assembly doesn't have its place (today)," said Olivier Chantraine, who said he's much more in favour of the charter than opposed, although he has issues with the way it's being proposed.

"For me the freedom of religion should not surpass liberty of expression and if we can't have political badges at work, why should we be allowed religious symbols?," Chantraine said. "It should be the same for everyone."

And that's why the crucifix should go from the legislature, Chantraine added, calling it hypocritical to keep the crucifix. "That's how it can be seen as racist and xenophobic," he added.

The minority PQ government is expected to table the charter this fall after hearing from the public and has continued to defend it publicly in the last week.

But the charter is unlikely to pass in its current form. The opposition Liberals are against the charter altogether and the second opposition party that has the swing vote in legislature, the Coalition, has denounced it as too radical.

The Coalition has offered to endorse a watered-down version, but the PQ has suggested it will listen to public input and might negotiate with opposition parties after it has been tabled.

Bernard Drainville, the minister in charge of the charter, said he expected the debate to last weeks and hoped for civilized, constructive debate.

That was echoed by another demonstrator, who called for an end to what he calls "chartophobia."

"Yes, the state can make compromises and religions should too," said Fabrice St-Pierre. "From my end, I'm in favour of the ban ... I don't think it's excessive to ask people to remove religious symbols while they work for the state."

Organizers said they're pleased with the turnout, given the event was organized at the last minute using social media. They expect a loud pro-charter movement to take shape in the coming weeks.

"It's just the beginning, continue the debate!," the crowd chanted to end the march.

VIDEO : http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/pro-charter-rally-in-montreal-draws-hundreds-in-favour-of-values-legislation-1.1465723#ixzz2gOdVrhfq

Two men argue during a demonstration in support of a proposed Quebec values charter in Montreal, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
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If we don't have religious symbols, I think it's easier to accept each other for all societies,"said Robert Carrier,

Coalition supports Charter of Quebec Values

watch VIDEO - http://www.theloop.ca/news/ctvnews/local/quebec/article/-/a/2757760/Coalition-supports-Charter-of-Quebec-Values

CTV Montreal
Published Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Supporters of the proposed Charter of Quebec Values are banding together in an umbrella group to voice their support for a secular Quebec.

The Rassemblement pour la laïcité, or the Gathering for Secularity, is composed of many groups which have already publicly declared their support for the Charter including the union of public and parapublic workers (SFPQ), SPQ Libre and the Quebec Secular Movement, and notable individuals such as Martine Desjardins, former president of FEUQ, and ex-Supreme Court Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé.

At a news conference on Tuesday members reiterated their desire that Quebec alter the existing Quebec Charter of Rights to include the right to be free from religion, especially for all aspects of the government.

The group said the proposal made by the Parti Quebecois government was actually too lax, and demanding that the crucifix given to the province of Quebec in 1936 be removed from the National Assembly, and that the proposed exemption clause be eliminated and replaced with a phase-in period for all government-paid employees.

Hijabs: a symbol of male oppression

Leila Bensalem, a teacher with the Commission scolaire de Montreal (CSDM), said the province needed to have a discussion about what was reasonable and rational in terms of making accommodations for religion. (See video in the link)

She said that demands from students and teachers for halal meat in cafeterias, and for days off to celebrate religious holidays, should no longer be dealt with on an ad-hoc basis but instead be subject to strict regulation.

Bensalem also spoke strongly against women who wear hijabs, saying that headscarves were the first symbol of patriarchal oppression.

"Just think of the fundamentalists when they establish an Islamic republic. The first thing they ask of Muslim women is to wear the veil, when it's not the burqa or the niqab or whatever. It's like the flag they want their women to wear and they represent that mentality," said Bensalem.

Many women in Quebec who wear hijabs say that may be the case in other countries, but not in Canada, where the hijab is almost always a personal choice made by a woman to show her devotion to her faith.

Is Quebec historically secular?

Members of the coalition showed some division when it came to the history of the province, with some saying that secularism is a historic Quebec value, one that was actually fought for by the Patriotes revolution in the 1800s.

Other speakers disagreed, and said what was important was that Quebec was a society that had been dominated by the Catholic church for many years, only to finally throw off the yoke of quasi-religious rule within living memory.

Read more: http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/coalition-supports-charter-of-quebec-values-1.1468429#ixzz2gOIweIPM