Quebec’s secularism charter heads to lawmakers Recently in the province of Quebec City, Canada, the Charter of Quebec Values was introduced to the public making the area completely secular.
Even more recently, the charter was rebranded as ” Charter Affirming the Values of Secularism and the Religious Neutrality of the State, As Well As theEqualityof Men and Women, and the Framing of Accommodation Requests”, the sole reason simply being that ” Bernard Drainville, the governing Parti Quebecois minister responsible for the proposal, said he mouthful of a name was selected by government lawyers, adding they like long names that encompass the major details in the title. ” This measure would ban all overt and conspicuous headgear worn by public sector employees, including hijabs, yarmulkes and Sikh turbans.
This ban also includes wearing large crucifixes and other obvious religious wear. This will affect people all over the province who openly displayed their religious perspectives. This will likely become an extremely controversial situation between the people of Quebec City and their governing party, he reason being that before this charter, the people were free to openly practice and somewhat display their beliefs, and now, are being regulated on what they are and aren’t allowed to wear.
Though the drafters of the bill feel that this charter is required to achieve religious neutrality, it is not likely that the people of Quebec City will stand for such religious oppression. Some may be tolerable of the charter, like those who can Just tuck in their necklaces or put away their rings, but what about those who wear garments such as headdresses and celebrative wear to express their trength and belief, or even a monk who is only to wear his robe. To set any regulation on religious ” display’ is to oppress religion itself.
It is impossible to ban the ” visual expression” of religion without inadvertantly discriminating against certain religious perspectives who use robes, dresses or other kinds religious wear. ” The provincial government is allowing for a one-year transition period to implement the provisions. The charter calls for disciplinary measures for those who do not comply with its bans, but those are unspecified in the bill. Meanwhile, Canada’s federal government has said that if the charter is approved, Ottawa would order a review by its Justice Department. This itself shows the uncertainty in the entire charter. If the law is passed, it should already deemed as a constitutional law. The provincial government is determined to have this charter set into motion and even they are unsure as to whether or not it is fair to religious expression as a whole. Not only do they neglect the fact that some religions require the expression of things such as headwear to ymbolize their religious devotion, they claim that it can be impartial to other forms of religious expressions.
However, there was no fault before the legislation of this charter, there wasn’t much of an issue with religious expression. Religious wars have not taken place in the country of Canada because they did not have a law regulating the religious expression of the people, making it impartial. The people of the province realize this and are opposing what is to be the ” Charter Affirming the Values of Secularism and the Religious Neutrality of the State, As Well As the Equality of Men nd Women, and the Framing of Accommodation Requests” Religion is a controversial thing.
As difficult as it may be to maintain the equality of the people and still remain viewed as impartial to any specific party, it is not alright to eliminate the situation as a whole. The freedom of religion is the rite of the people and is not be tyrannized in any way. Though the respective religious peoples are to practice their religion respective to the laws of their land, opression of general expression is not a possible solution.
