About the veil and who reacted at McGill University Google English translation: The debate on the place of religious symbols in Quebec society is reflected in the classroom, where students fear that shortcuts on identity issues lead to misperceptions of Quebec. A text Bruno Maltais Last Thursday, in the course of his political philosophy which has about 280 students, Catherine Lu came into class with a veil on her head to her opposition to the draft Charter of Quebec values. "It has launched a two-hour discussion. I was struck by the conviction that seemed universal among students. A francophone Quebec student said he was ashamed of being a francophone Quebecer, but he also told the class not to assume that all francophone Quebecers supported the charter, "says Ms. Lu To express their objection to the charter of values proposed by the government of Pauline Marois, the faculty of Political Science Marie-Joëlle Zahar and Catherine Lu, who respectively teach at the University of Montreal and McGill University, wrote a manifesto calling their colleagues "to think about the fundamental injustice, inconsistency, the cons-productive and dangerous the proposed Charter" and "wear a visible religious symbol of their choice in their classrooms." "The message must be clear: the Charter before us should not be amended and must be rejected by the National Assembly. "- Excerpt from a letter by Marie-Joëlle Zahar and Catherine Lu The two professors argue in particular that "the Charter is fundamentally unfair because it bullies of expression and freedom of religion" and that it "will make the integration of new immigrants more difficult, not only in alienating those from some minorities religious, but also feeding and nourishing, rather than confronting and calm, unfounded fears of cultural and religious differences within the population of Quebec. " The letter was sent to some colleagues may join the campaign. Ms Zahar said that some have responded to the call, others not. Students denounce approach "In addition to creating a no objective debate and disseminate his own political views, [Professor] accused the people who are supporting this ethnic nationalists," says a McGill student who does not wish to be identified for fear of be judged by his classmates that in context, could believe that it adheres to the principles presented as condemned by his teacher and those are being expressed on the subject. "When she came to class with a veil, I was glad to talk of the Charter of values," said the student, who said "Catholic, half Quebec, half Italian." But the turn of events prompted her to write the media to denounce the way the issue was framed. "In trying to explain the origin of the project of the Parti Quebecois, she made an analogy pretty outrageous [sic] by comparing the debate between Anglophones, Francophones and allophones than the Rwandan genocide," said the student, who points out that several of his comrades were foreign students and are not aware of the debate on Quebec identity and reasonable accommodations that have occurred in recent years. "I think such actions are fanning tensions between the many cultures of Quebec and put a label on distressing students of this university, regardless of their political affiliation, their origin or religion, in addition to passing the Quebecois racist, that I categorically refuse to accept, "she says. Another student of the same course, born in Quebec and with Syrian and Kurdish origins, believes that "the teacher, trying to popularize the issue, falsely explained the nature of the debate as language, telling the class that Anglophones are those who oppose the Charter and that the French are its main supporters, making even a very vague comparison with the language dynamics of Rwanda in 1994. " Catherine Lu explains that it refers to the ethnic divide in Rwanda as part of a policy analysis of a French researcher, and it was obviously not matter to compare what the Tutsis lived in the situation of minorities in Quebec. The student states also do not accuse his teacher racism, but regrets that "this kind of talk can bring international students to get a bad picture of Quebecers. Most students also shouted to injustice. They are newly arrived and already the words of a teacher could bias their image of Quebec society and Quebec-born. " McGill opposes the Quebec Charter of values In a message released Tuesday on its website, McGill said that respect for religious choice and plurality of cultures are essential principles for the community of the institution. "The University must remain an area of freedom and exchange of ideas. The proposal to prohibit our faculty and staff who wish or who feel obliged to wear religious symbols, even if they are easily visible, is contrary to our principles and adds nothing to the strict religious neutrality and political institution like McGill itself. All members of the university community with whom I have had the opportunity to discuss the issue are very concerned about this proposal and want it removed, "said Suzanne Fortier, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the McGill University. quebec.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/18/mcgill-charte-des-valeurs-quebecoises-professeure-voile_n_3946719.html
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 13:15:54 +0000
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