Crucifix in Quebec’s National Assembly debated again

The crucifix, that hangs over the speaker’s chair in the province of Quebec’s National Assembly, is once again the subject of great debate.

This is the result of the larger debate that premier-elect Francois Legault ignited with his election campaign promise to ban people wearing symbols of their religion while employed in the civil service.

First proposed in 2013, as the Charter of Quebec Values, the provincial law would apply to teachers, judges,police officers, employees in hospitals and daycare centres. They would be prohibited from wearing signs of their religious affiliation, if the proposed law is eventually passed.

Quebec legislature Speaker Jacques Chagnon speaks before question period, Wednesday, September 18, 2013 at the legislature in Quebec City. A proposed Quebec charter of values would allow the crucifix inside the legislature but would ban all religious signs in government buildings. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

But when it comes to the provincial legislature, the crucifix is exempt, according to Legault, leader of the centre-right political party known as the Coalition Avenir Quebec.

“In our past we had Protestants and Catholics. They built the values we have in Quebec. We have to recognize that and not mix that with religious signs.” Legault told reporters last week in Yerevan, Armenia, where he attended the Francophonie Summit.

The only officially French-speaking province in Canada, Quebec was once a majority Catholic stronghold. Now, like many other places in the world, it is an evolving post-Catholic society

In the wake of what’s known as the “Quiet Revolution” of the 1960’s, most Quebecers don’t practice the Catholic faith, but many still identify as Catholic on census reports.

Yesterday, on a CBC Radio phone-in show in Montreal, the subject of the crucifix in the legislature elicited a strong response.

The majority of anglophone callers want the crucifix removed, whether or not the further ban on religious symbols comes into force.

Archbishop Christian Lepine of Montreal. (courtesy of the Archdiocese of Montreal)

The Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lepine, was called to share his view on the dispute, and he said it is up to the elected politicians to decide. “The decision was made by the National Assembly, so the decision belongs to the National Assembly and so in that sense, the bishops are neutral”, he said.

Listen

When asked about the proposed ban on individuals wearing religious symbols, such as a Jewish kippa, a Muslim hijab, or a Sikh turban, he said,”I think the visibility of what we believe in… is part of being in a society where everybody is considered, seen as a first-rate citizen, or full-fledged citizen.”

In 2008, the Bouchard-Taylor commission, a government sponsored initiative, investigated Quebec secularism and the issues around identity. It recommended that the crucifix be removed, but no government has followed through. 

(With files from CBC and Canadian Press)

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