Quebec to ban public prayer in sweeping new secularism law

Quebec says it will intensify its crackdown on public displays of religion in a sweeping new law that critics say pushes Canadian provinces into private spaces and disproportionately affects Muslims.Bill 9, introduced by the governing Coalition Avenir Québec on Thursday, bans prayer in public institutions, including in colleges and universities. It also bans communal prayer on public roads and in parks, with the threat of fines of C$1,125 for groups in contravention of the prohibition. Short public events with prior approval are exempt.CAQ has made secularism a key legislative priority, passing the controversial Bill 21 – which bans some public sector employees from wearing religious symbol – in 2019. It plans to extend that prohibition to anyone working in daycares, colleges, universities and private schools. Full face coverings would be banned for anyone in those institutions, including students.Quebec’s secularism minister, Jean-François Roberge, said the controversial new provisions were the latest steps in a province working towards full secularization. He criticized previous accommodations by post-secondary institutions, including prayer rooms, telling reporters the schools “are not temples or churches or those kinds of places”. The ban on public prayer comes after the group Montreal4Palestine organized Sunday protests outside the city’s Notre-Dame Basilica that included prayers.“It’s shocking to see people blocking traffic, taking possession of the public space without a permit, without warning, and then turning our streets, our parks, our public squares into places of worship,” said Roberge.The province will also limit the offering of kosher and halal meals in public institutions. “We think that when the state is neutral, Quebecers are free,” said Roberge, rejecting allegations the law disproportionately affects minorities. “We have the same rules applying to everyone,” he said.But for Muslim students, the new rules “fee[l] like a personal attack against our community,” Ines Rarrbo, a first-year mechanical engineering student, told the Canadian Press. “It’s as if we’re not welcome here.”Stephen Brown, president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said the move amounts to “political opportunism” and reflects a “doubling down on identity politics and division in a desperate attempt to regain the public’s trust”.In a statement, the Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops said the proposed bill would be a “radical infringement on the rights and freedoms of the Quebec population” and that “the government has not demonstrated the need for such legislation”.Bill 21 bars judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers from wearing religious symbols while at work. Other public workers such as bus drivers, doctors and social workers must only keep their faces uncovered.The legislation runs afoul of both Quebec’s charter of human rights and freedoms and Canada’s charter of rights and freedoms but in 2021, Quebec’s superior court upheld the statute despite a finding that the law violates the freedom of expression and religion of religious minorities. Governments in Canada can pass laws that breaches certain fundamental rights if they use a legal mechanism known as a the “notwithstanding clause”.Like Bill 21, the new legislation also invokes the clause pre-emptively, shielding it from challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canada’s supreme court is expected to hear a legal challenge to the use of the notwithstanding clause in the coming months.