Demonstration in Montreal last month against the so-called ‘Charter of Values’
Another excellent comment piece by Haroon Siddiqui in the Toronto Star., demolishing the Quebec government’s proposal to ban the hijab and other (non-Christian) religious symbols.
For a project that has been framed by its authors as an important step toward equality of the sexes, the Charter of Quebec Values is managing to upset a lot of women.
On Wednesday, it was the turn of the organization representing provincial women’s centres to issue a stark warning about the damage the charter proposals are causing before they even become law. The group, R des centres des femmes du Québec, said that the debate over the charter, which would ban such religious symbols as the Muslim hijab and Jewish kippa from the public service, is provoking violence against Muslim women.
At a meeting last week, the organization representing 97 centres across the province heard of dozens of recent incidents in which Muslim women wearing headscarves were targeted. “Women are being shoved, insults, denigrated,” the group said in a statement. “Some have even been spit on in the face. The impacts of the debate over the charter are undeniable.”
Demonstration against the ‘Charter of Values’ in Montreal last month
A majority of Quebecers – 62 per cent – oppose firing public servants who insist on wearing religious symbols at work, according to a poll conducted for CTV News.
The Parti Quebecois’ proposed Charter of Quebec Values would ban public employees from wearing prominent religious symbols, such as headscarves and turbans, in the workplace – although it has not said what the consequences of defying the charter would be.
The Ipsos Reid poll found that 38 per cent of Quebecers agreed with, and 62 per cent disagreed, with the statement: “Public servants like teachers, health care workers and others should be fired from their jobs if they insist on wearing religious symbols and clothing at work.”
Across Canada, 72 per cent opposed the statement, while 28 per cent agreed.
The National Post has invited its readers to give their views on Quebec’s controversial “Charter of Values”. Some letters oppose the repressive legislation, but the majority are in favour, and even those against the Quebec government’s proposals often back a complete ban on the niqab.
Good article by Haroon Siddiqui in the Toronto Star.
The PQ’s proposed Charter of Values is continuing to raise a ruckus, as another group has announced its opposition to proposed legislation – making a demand for “inclusive secularism.”
The new group, Quebec Muslims for Rights and Freedoms, believes individuals should be free to wear whatever religious symbols they choose, and say the province should make policies without interfering with religious institutions.
The group represents 50 Muslim organizations across the province which collectively oppose the Charter that – if passed – would limit anyone wearing religious symbols from holding government positions.
A teenage girl roughed up by a trio of girls while walking from the mosque on Geneva St. says she always felt safe in the community until now. The 17-year-old received a bump on her head, scrapes and minor injuries to her hands and nose after the confrontation. “I’ve never seen them in my life,” she said. “I felt safe walking by myself.”
Niagara Regional Police said the teen was walking on the sidewalk at Geneva Square parking lot just before 6 p.m. on Sept. 17 when three girls walking behind tried to pass, made a comment, got in an argument and pushed and hit her. The three girls ran away.
Two 16-year-old girls have since been charged with assault in relation to the incident. A third female youth was not charged. Their identifies are protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
By pandering to ethnic nationalism, the Parti Québécois is playing a cynical and dangerous game, Martin Patriquin argues.
Vladimir Putin called on Russians to strengthen a new national identity based on conservative and traditional values such as the Orthodox church on Thursday, warning that the west was facing a moral crisis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPlJ9zyqvTI
A video that appears to show a man and a Muslim woman arguing on a Montreal city bus is the latest indication of racial tensions boiling over in Quebec.
The exclusive video was obtained by Huffington Post Quebec and is said to have happened on the afternoon of Aug. 28 on the 69 Gouin bus. In it, the man tells the woman, who is wearing a hijab, to go back to her country. The person who filmed it said the altercation lasted between five and 10 minutes, until the man got off the bus.
Similar expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment took place in other parts of Quebec around the same time.