The provincial legislature in the mostly French speaking province of Quebec will begin public hearings today into the highly controversial proposed Quebec secular charter or Bill 60, previously known as the Quebec charter of values
Proposed last November by the separatist Parti Quebecois government, it seeks to ban the wearing of obvious religious symbols by all public employees.
Some 250 individuals, institutions, and community groups will present their views at the hearings which are scheduled to run until February 7.
Claimed by the government to be a unifying document, polling shows it has deeply divided the provinces population, much of it along linguistic lines with 57% of French-speakers supporting it, but plummeting to 16% among other language groups.
Since the bill was first proposed, a number of incidents have occurred in the province, ranging from racist graffiti, to verbal abuse and even physical attacks of religious and ethnic minorities.
Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the bill, has said the hearings will not likely change the bill in any significant way.
If passed it is almost certain to be challenged under both Quebec’s provincial Charter of Rights and the federal Charter of Rights.
In that case the PQ government has said it could amend the provincial Charter of Rights with a majority vote in the provincial assembly, and in the case of the federal Charter, invoke the “notwithstanding clause” inserted into the 1982 Constitution which could override the Charter.
However, in the current minority government, the PQ needs the support of opposition parties to pass the bill and the PQ has indicated some modifications might be made to appease the opposition.
The PQ would like a majority and may call a spring election. If that call is made, Bill 60 would be interrupted before it could become law.
Alec Castonguay, political bureau chief for the current affairs magazine, L’Actualité,” said the proposal would become a major issue during the campaign, He says “It’s the last card that [the minority PQ government] has to maybe be able to have a majority,”
Breakdown of main points in Charter (CBC)
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