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CV NEWS FEED // Quebec’s Premier François Legault is considering banning public prayer, promising to send a “very clear message to Islamists” in reaction to reports that high school students prayed in classrooms and hallways and disrupted a play on sexually transmitted diseases, he said at a press conference Dec. 6.
Legault stated that the behavior reported is “totally unacceptable,” according to CTV News Montreal.
“There are teachers who are bringing Islamist religious concepts into Quebec schools,” Legault said, the news outlet reported. “I will definitely not tolerate that. We don’t want that in Quebec.”
The story about the Montreal high school is the most recent story in a wave of controversy regarding Muslim teachers and students in Quebec schools. The first incident was made public in October, when a government investigation “found a toxic environment” at a Montreal elementary school, according to CTV.
The government report stated that teachers, many of whom were North African, a predominantly Muslim region, were yelling at and humiliating students, ignoring learning disabilities and calling the students who struggled with them “lazy,” preventing girls from playing soccer, and ignoring certain subjects including science and sexual education. Eleven teachers have been suspended.
At the Dec. 6 press conference, a reporter asked Legault if he is bothered by public prayer. Recently, images of Muslims praying in public have circulated online and caused controversy, including an image from last June of Muslims celebrating Eid al-Adha in a city park.
“Seeing people on their knees in the streets, praying, I think we have to ask ourselves the question. I don’t think it’s something we should see,” Legault responded. He added that he does not want to see prayer in public parks or streets.
He said that the government was considering using the notwithstanding clause to pass the ban, which allows the government to overstep certain sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
However, legal experts have expressed concern over such a measure. According to another CTV article, constitutional lawyer Frédéric Bérard has misgivings.
“The notwithstanding clause has to be used only in the case of an emergency with very important issues,” Bérard stated. “You cannot use that just like that, just for fun, just to score some political points, right? And this is what we’re seeing right now.”
He added that using the notwithstanding clause to ban public prayer would be a clear violation of freedom of religion, not an emergency-warranted action.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has launched a campaign called “Save the Charter” in response to the “horrendous violations” of personal freedoms that occur through abuse of the notwithstanding cause.
A campaign description states, “If our rights and freedoms can easily be overridden, our Charter is meaningless.”
CCLA’s Fundamental Freedoms Program director Anaïs Bussières McNicoll stated that Legault announced his intention to ban public prayer after an advisory committee the Quebec government appointed recommended the province adopt its own constitution.
Bussières McNicoll said the proposed ban would violate the freedom of religion and freedom of expression. People should be able to gather peacefully in parks and streets to express their opinions and faith and exercise their rights.
She said the ban “would be the start of shrinking our civic space.”
