{"id":218809,"date":"2019-06-14T20:21:27","date_gmt":"2019-06-15T00:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=218809"},"modified":"2019-06-14T20:21:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-15T00:21:27","slug":"forcing-secularism-bill-through-legislature-gives-quebecers-back-their-pride-premier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/06\/14\/forcing-secularism-bill-through-legislature-gives-quebecers-back-their-pride-premier\/","title":{"rendered":"Forcing secularism bill through legislature gives Quebecers back their pride: premier"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legault told reporters people stop him in the street and encourage him to get the controversial Bill 21 passed into law. \u201cThey tell me: ‘Don’t let go!\u201d’ he said during a news conference in Quebec City. (File Photo<\/a>: Francois Legault\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 Quebecers are regaining a sense of pride now that the government is set to force through a secularism bill that bans many public sector workers from wearing religious symbols, Premier Francois Legault said Friday.<\/p>\n

Legault told reporters people stop him in the street and encourage him to get the controversial Bill 21 passed into law. \u201cThey tell me: ‘Don’t let go!\u201d’ he said during a news conference in Quebec City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say they are proud,\u201d he continued. \u201cTo feel this regained pride among our people, who are standing up, advancing \u2014 it makes me the happiest man in the world to be their premier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite criticism from opposition parties, human rights advocates, lawyers and organizations representing minority groups, Legault plans to invoke closure and push the bill through this weekend.<\/p>\n

That means the legislature will sit over the next two days before breaking for the summer to debate Bill 21 as well as Bill 9, on immigration reform. The legislative mechanism of closure allows the government to end debate and use its majority to force a vote.<\/p>\n

Quebec’s Bill 21 would ban public servants in positions of authority \u2014 including teachers, police officers, Crown prosecutors and prison guards \u2014 from wearing religious symbols on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuebecers have been wishing for a long time to prohibit religious symbols for people in authority and they are saying: ‘Finally. We have a government who listened to us \u2014 who understood us,’ \u201c Legault said.<\/p>\n

He said legislative debate has gone on long enough, and the bill needs to be adopted to send a message to the people who voted for his Coalition Avenir Quebec party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a signal that is being sent,\u201d the premier said earlier in the day. \u201cIt’s been 11 years. It’s a societal debate we should put behind us. There was a clear desire that was expressed eight months ago,\u201d he said, referring to his October electoral victory over the Liberals.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo let this drag on,\u201d Legault added, \u201cthere will be a risk for social cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the afternoon news conference, Legault argued that by clearly legislating on secularism, Quebec will avoid the right-wing extremism seen in parts of Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bill that is moderate, applies to very few people, but that allows us to send a message that we want to protect our values and our way of life, I think is the best way,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n

But opposition parties argue the government is damaging social cohesion by using closure on a bill that curtails the rights of citizens, especially minorities. The bill already invokes the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to prevent court challenges based on rights violations.<\/p>\n

Quebec solidaire spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said Legault’s contention that Bill 21 will end the debate in society over secularism is laughable.<\/p>\n

He said many of the people who spoke at committee in support of the bill, such as academics and activists, wanted it to go even farther.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next few years, these people will continue to make themselves heard and push and push to ban (religious symbols) more and more,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

As if to confirm Nadeau-Dubois’ fears, interim Parti Quebecois leader Pascal Berube later told reporters his party wants the government to accept two amendments that would extend Bill 21 to apply to daycare workers and private school teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want a bill that is more coherent,\u201d said Berube, whose party has signalled it will almost certainly vote in favour of the bill.<\/p>\n

Interim Liberal Leader Pierre Arcand said Bill 21 \u201cbothers a lot of people.\u201d He said Legault is mistaken if he thinks using closure will end the debate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s unfortunate,\u201d Arcand said. \u201cThe bill will be adopted over the weekend without it having a lot of detail or without an understanding of how the law will be applied.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Legault government is also forcing through Bill 9, which would give the government more authority to select who receives permanent residency in Quebec. The legislation allows the government to cancel roughly 18,000 pending applications for immigration to the province \u2014 something the Liberals oppose.<\/p>\n

Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told reporters Friday the immigration changes are necessary because of the province’s labour shortage. The government says the new rules will allow it to better select newcomers based on the needs of the labour market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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