Quebec Considering Canada’s Strictest Law Governing Religious Symbols

CATHOLIC PHILLY
By Philippe Vaillancourt

A necklace with a cross is seen hanging from a 9/11 memorial art piece outside a firehouse near the World Trade Center site in New York Sept. 9. The Quebec government is preparing to adopt what would become the most stringent secularism legislation in Canada, which would prohibit wearing religious symbols, such as a cross, a veil or a kippah, for some people “in the performance of their duties.” (CNS photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters)

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) — The Quebec government is preparing to adopt what would become the most stringent secularism legislation in Canada, hoping to end more than a decade of acrimonious debates about religion’s place in the public space. Religious groups fear, however, that the legislation will be detrimental to their fundamental rights regarding freedom of worship. Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister of immigration, diversity and inclusion, introduced Bill 21 in the National Assembly of Quebec March 28. The draft prohibits wearing religious symbols, such as a cross, a veil or a kippah, for some people “in the performance of their duties.”  [More]