Adopt a Religious Sign Week: September 12th to 18th 10 September 2013 Dear colleagues, The PQ government has just proposed the Charter of Quebec Values, which includes provisions to prohibit public sector employees from wearing in the work place visible religious symbols, such as turbans, kippas, hijabs and crosses. We oppose the proposed Charter for four basic reasons. First, the proposed Charter is fundamentally unjust in its violation of individuals’ freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Second, in violating individuals’ basic personal liberties, the proposed Charter is incoherent and inconsistent with the main purposes and principles of a secular state and society. Third, in forcing some competent individuals to choose between their religious values and their desire to contribute to the common good of society, the Charter will only deprive the public sector of much-needed qualified workers in areas such as health and education. Fourth, the proposed Charter will make integration of new immigrants harder, not only by alienating those from certain religious minorities, but also by stoking and nurturing, rather than confronting and alleviating, the unwarranted fears of cultural and religious difference among the Quebec population that pose a barrier to integration. According to the section on ‘Common values of Quebec Society’ on the Immigration Quebec website, ‘Québec encourages exchanges between cultures and closer relations between communities, and recognizes what an enrichment diversity is. Moreover, everyone can freely choose their lifestyle, opinions and religion, while respecting the rights of others. Relationships between people are established with respect and tolerance in a climate of harmony.’ Restricting the personal freedom of public sector employees to wear religious symbols is plainly inconsistent with this aspirational picture of a harmonious and pluralist Quebec society. While some restrictions on such personal freedom are justifiable for reasons of public safety or job performance, the restrictions in the proposed Charter are unwarranted, and will likely fuel alienation of religious minorities from the Quebec state and its institutions, confounding the necessary and desired goal of integration. What clearer signal of rejection and inferior status can the Quebec state make to its religious-minded citizens, than to declare in a Charter that because of their religious faith, their personal freedom can be subject to additional restrictions that are not faced by those, like us, who have no religious affiliation? In fact, the prohibitions, while targeting religious minorities, are so comprehensive that they restrict, in effect, all individuals’ freedom of expression, since even an atheist who may want to wear a religious symbol for non-religious but perhaps aesthetic reasons, would be prohibited from doing so. One of the main political functions of secularism is to protect individuals’ fundamental personal freedoms of expression and religion, which includes their practices of dress. According to the section on ‘Common values of Quebec Society’ on the Immigration Quebec website, the principle of state secularism means that the decisions and actions of the Quebec state and its institutions ‘are independent of religious powers.’ We do not think that respecting the personal freedom of public sector employees to wear religious symbols breaches this basic secular principle. The regulation therefore seems disconnected from the objective of ensuring that Quebec is a secular state. In instrumentalizing secularism against fundamental personal freedoms, the Charter’s provisions exceed the authority of a secular state, and alienate those of us committed to a secular Quebec society. In addition, by forcing competent people in several key fields such as health and education to choose between their religious values and their desire to contribute to the common good of society, the Charter will pose a barrier to the improvement of government services in these areas. It also introduces an arbitrary criteria, not relevant to professional competence, that discriminates against some job applicants based on their religious beliefs and practices. We agree with the PQ government that integration is the desired goal for new immigrants to Quebec. A significant barrier, however, seems to be that many Quebeckers are fearful of those who come from different backgrounds. This fear of the unfamiliar is natural, and reinforced when Quebeckers are not exposed to people of different cultures and religions, with different customs in food, religion and dress. Instead of helping to confront and allay these largely unwarranted fears, the Charter provisions would only justify and reinforce them by ensuring that Quebeckers are not exposed to any displays of cultural and religious diversity in the public sector. But stoking and nurturing these fears will only make it more difficult for new immigrants to achieve integration into Quebec society. It is a vicious and dangerous fault for a government to exploit its population’s vulnerabilities and insecurities in order to gain some electoral advantage. We call on all educators and members of the public service to reflect on the fundamentally unjust, incoherent, self-defeating and dangerous nature of the proposed Charter, and to join in a Week of Action, starting on Thursday, September 12th, to express our strongest opposition to its adoption. For one week (and perhaps indefinitely until the Charter is rejected by the National Assembly), we call on all educators to adopt and wear visible religious symbols of their choosing in classes and lectures. The message needs to be clear: the proposed Charter does not need to be amended; it needs to be rejected by the National Assembly. Catherine Lu mcgill.ca/politicalscience/faculty/lu/ Marie-Joëlle Zahar pol.umontreal.ca/repertoire-departement/vue/zahar-marie-joelle/
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:34:02 +0000
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