Working site on citizenship and multiculturalism issues.
2013/08/26 Leave a comment
Another illustration of the diversity of Islam in Canada, and appropriate that demonstrations take place to signal what is acceptable discourse in Canada.
2013/08/24 Leave a comment
A bit less strong than his tweet earlier this week, but recognition that the federal government cannot sit on the sidelines on this one.
My upcoming book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias, has a section that covers the multiculturalism/interculturalisme debates and some of the earlier challenges at both the political and official levels in deciding how and what level to respond.
Federal Multiculturalism Minister concerned about Quebec religious-symbols ban – The Globe and Mail.
2013/08/24 Leave a comment
Some interesting reserves from partisans of laïcité.
2013/08/22 Leave a comment
Some good articles today on the ongoing controversy about the leaked draft Charte des valeurs québécoises.
First, interview Jocelyn Maclure of Laval University on the appropriate balance between secular government and religious freedom of expression, essentially taking a position similar to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission:
Q&A: Quebec’s religious garb debate intensifies – Canada – CBC News.
A good analysis in La Presse about all the steps the PQ has not taken in preparing its draft and the implications for the debate and positioning, namely need for public consultations, trying to change the vocabulary from laïcité to valeurs, going far beyond Bouchard-Taylor in banning religious symbols for all government employees (not just those in authority), and how opposition parties are lined up (Liberals against, CAQ has yet to pronounce itself officially but appears to have some reserves, Québec solidaire against), and lastly it will be challenged in the courts.
Charte des valeurs québécoises: un chemin semé d’embûches
A good opinion piece by Lionel Perez – Maire de l’arrondissement de Côte-des-Neiges -Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (one of the most diverse areas of Montreal), on the need for an open definition of laïcité, laïcité inclusive, not the narrow, exclusionary approach of the draft proposal:
La laïcité inclusive est une valeur québécoise
And Martin Patriquin of Macleans on some of the likely effects on employment opportunities for immigrant and new Canadian women, as well as how the politics are playing out:
Surely you’re not comparing Pauline Marois to Vladimir Putin?
2013/08/21 Leave a comment
In what can only be seen as playing to xenophobic tendencies, inspriré à la française, the Parti Québecois’s leaked proposal for a Charter of Quebec Values, that would exclude any government employee in any function (e.g., hospitals, schools, garbage collection, the list is endless) from wearing any religious sign. Laicisme extrème.
Rather than addressing the political reality of Quebec feelings of vulnerability through the more nuanced approach of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission’s laïcité ouverte (see Rapport Bouchard-Taylor – Pourquoi la laïcité ouverte ? | Le Devoir) , where the only those government posts where government neutrality must be explicit (e.g., law enforcement, judges, President of the Assemblée national), the PQ went for an exclusionary, divisive approach.
Encouragingly, whether it was a trial balloon, all opposition parties in the Assemblée nationale have spoken against it as have many Quebec commentators (in English Canada, when we poll people about comfort level with religious signs, discomfort increases with the degree of religiosity expressed, but people have largely come to terms with this as part of living in a diverse society). Expect of course that other views will also come out, as is normal in any public debate, and we shall see whether the PQ succeeds in making this a wedge issue.
And of course, no such law would survive challenge under any human rights legislation in Quebec or Canada, not to mention the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Lots written on this and a selection of articles below for those interested.
Charte des valeurs québécoises – Une fuite mal reçue | Le Devoir.
Opinion Quebec’s Putinesque idea to ban religious garb from public workplaces – Globe and Mail
L’interdiction des symboles religieux serait une erreur, selon Charles Taylor, La Presse
Turbans, hijabs, kippas face restrictions in Quebec, Macleans
2013/08/19 Leave a comment
Encouraging. The Bouchard-Taylor Report was a voice of reason in Quebec debates, laicisme-ouvert was a reasonable way to find a balance between personal expression and respect for the neutrality of the state, limited to when the state was in a position of authority and enforcement.
Of course, how it will play out ….
Accommodements: la CAQ suivra les traces de Bouchard-Taylor | Jean-Marc Salvet | Politique.
2013/07/25 Leave a comment
Yet another eruption over what should be a non-issue – bringing halal or kosher food to an amusement park. And fairness does not have to mean identical treatment.
Chris Selley: Resisting multiculturalism, one packed lunch at a time | National Post.
2013/06/11 Leave a comment
As always, Quebec is different on how it handles reasonable accommodation issues, not to mention the double standard between expressions of Catholicism and other religions.
Quebec has a strange view of secularism – The Globe and Mail.
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Multicultural Meanderings 