The Charter of Quebec Values () was
Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
60 in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, introduced by the governing
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
in 2013 under Premier
Pauline Marois
Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ ...
, trying to legislate the Quebec controversy on
reasonable accommodation A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to accommodate or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. That need can vary. Accommodations can be religious, physical, mental or emotional, academic, physic ...
. The PQ cabinet member forwarding the bill was
Bernard Drainville
Bernard Drainville (born June 6, 1963) is a Canadian politician, television host and journalist. He was the Member of National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Marie-Victorin in Longueuil from 2007 to 2016, representing the Parti Québécoi ...
, Minister responsible for Democratic Institutions and Active Citizenship. Premier Marois also threatened invoking the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution of Canada to pass the Charter in 2013. There was much controversy in Quebec and elsewhere about the charter, especially its proposed prohibition of
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
employees from wearing or displaying conspicuous religious symbols.
The proposal would have included the following provisions:
* Amend the
Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
The ''Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte des droits et libertés de la personne), also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1 ...
* Establish a duty of neutrality and reserve for all state personnel (including state-funded education and health care workers).
* Limit the wearing of conspicuous
religious symbol
A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion.
Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chapl ...
s for said personnel.
* Make it mandatory to have one's face uncovered when providing or receiving a state service.
* Establish an implementation policy for state organizations.
The PQ had a minority government; Marois called an early election to obtain a greater vote of confidence. The bill died as of the
2014 election, which was won by the
Quebec Liberal Party
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...
. The Charter of Quebec Values was argued to be a contributing factor in the PQ’s loss of power (although the bill was polled with higher public opinion support than the governing party itself). The Liberals were opposed to the legislation, but party leader
Philippe Couillard
Philippe Couillard (; born June 26, 1957) is a Canadian business advisor and former neurosurgeon, university professor and politician who served as 31st premier of Quebec from 2014 to 2018. Between 2003 and 2008, he was Quebec's Minister of Hea ...
pledged during the campaign to put forward a less strict set of measures on the reasonable accommodation issue.
Chronology
The proposal was first announced on May 22, 2013.
The Charter was officially proposed on September 10, 2013.
The bill died on the order paper as of March 5, 2014.
During the subsequent election campaign Premier Pauline Marois promised that if elected she would apply the notwithstanding clause to shield the Charter from legal challenges.
Symbols
![Non à la charte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Non_%C3%A0_la_charte.jpg)
The most controversial of all provisions seems to be about the restriction of the
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
employees from wearing or displaying conspicuous religious symbols.
According to the bill, relatively discreet items such as a
finger ring
A ring is a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry. The term "ring" by itself always denotes jewellery worn on the finger; when worn as an ornament elsewhere, the body part is specified within the term, e.g., earrings, neck ...
,
earring
An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...
, or small
pendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...
s bearing a religious symbol will be allowed, while more obvious items such as a
kippah
A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the c ...
,
turban
A turban (from Persian دولبند, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promine ...
,
hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
,
niqāb
A niqāb or niqaab (; ar, نِقاب ', "aceveil"), also called a ruband, ( fa, روبند) is a garment, usually black, that covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of an interpretation of '' hijab'' (i.e. "modest dress"). Musli ...
, and larger crosses and religious pendants would be prohibited.
Elected politicians would be exempt and temporary opt-out provisions have been proposed for
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
and
hospitals
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
. Furthermore, certain items and customs with an ostensibly religious nature, such as the large
crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...
on display in the
Quebec National Assembly
The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members ...
, and observing
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
are exempt on the rationale of them reflecting the province's cultural heritage. This has led to the widespread belief that this measure is motivated by an act of ethnocentric
hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
.
Reactions
The charter was popular in the beginning, but constant attacks reduced the support occasionally to 50% of the population.
Quebec political parties
In Quebec itself, the provincial
Official Opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...
, the
Quebec Liberal Party
The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...
, enjoying an increase in support since the announcement of this Charter, declared that it would oppose passing this bill to the point of triggering an election over the issue.
Coalition Avenir Québec
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ; , ) is a Quebec nationalist, autonomist and conservative[François Legault
François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since its founding in 2011. Legault sits as a member of the ...](_blank ...<br></span></div> leader <div class=)
proposed a compromise with a more limited ban with health care workers and daycare workers exempted.
Former PQ premier
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau (; August 9, 1930June 1, 2015) was a Canadian politician and Québécois economist who was a noted Quebec sovereigntist and the 26th premier of Quebec from September 26, 1994, to January 29, 1996.
Early life and career
Pariz ...
did not feel the end of the bill justified its means.
Federal political parties
The reaction to this bill has been divisive with most of the major Federal political parties denouncing this proposal. For instance,
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
of the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
described this measure as a cynical
wedge issue
A wedge issue is a political or social issue, often of a controversial or divisive nature, which splits apart a demographic or population group. Wedge issues can be advertised or publicly aired in an attempt to strengthen the unity of a populatio ...
designed to foment conflict with the
Federal Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
to promote
Quebec separatism
The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...
when it is challenged in the courts as
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
while
Thomas Mulcair
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
of the
New Democratic Party of Canada
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* th ...
declared it unacceptable, deriding it while speaking to the press as "state-sponsored
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
". Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
noted that the bill will likely not become law, but will take whatever action necessary in the event that it does.
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Maria Mourani
Maria Mourani (born May 19, 1969) is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Ahuntsic in Canada. She was formerly a member of the Bloc Québécois before leaving the party over its support for the ...
was expelled from the
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
for complaining that the proposed Charter is an act of political
opportunism
Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term ...
over
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
.
Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse
Quebec's human rights commission, the
condemned the proposed charter as a "radical" infringement on fundamental rights.
Other groups
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association submitted a brief to the Quebec National Assembly’s Committee on Institutions. They described Bill 60 as a profoundly disturbing law that would violate fundamental freedoms and cannot 'be justified in a free and democratic society' as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires. CCLA posits that the Bill violates freedom of religion, freedom of expression, the right to equality, and the right to be free from discrimination. CCLA mentions inconsistencies in the law that would be disproportionate upon members of minority faith traditions. They urged the Quebec government to abandon the bill.
The
National Council of Canadian Muslims
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) is a Canadian Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. NCCM was formerly known as the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN).
NCCM is active in human rights and civil li ...
also submitted a brief to the Quebec National Assembly on Bill 60. They described the bill as discriminatory and that it would violate religious freedoms of the Muslim community. The NCCM urged the opposition parties in the Quebec National Assembly to defeat Bill 60.
The president of the ''
Mouvement laïque québécois
The Mouvement laïque québécois (MLQ) (unofficially, the 'Quebec Secular Movement') is a non-profit organisation whose goal is to defend and promote freedom of conscience, separation of church and state, and secularisation of public institutions ...
'',
Lucie Jobin
Lucie is the French and Czech form of the female name Lucia. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Lucie Ahl, British tennis player
* Lucie Arnaz, American actress
* Lucie Aubrac, member of the French Resistance
* Lucie Baltha ...
, wrote that she "is delighted that secularism is registered on it - it is a public value of social cohesion - but we express many reservations. It would be a two-speed secularism".
On November 13,
Jewish General Hospital
The Jewish General Hospital (JGH; french: Hôpital général juif), known officially as the Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital (french: Hôpital général juif Sir Mortimer B. Davis) since 1978, is an acute-care teaching hospital in M ...
executive director Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg called the proposed charter "flawed and contrary to Quebec's spirit of inclusiveness and tolerance" and said that the hospital would ignore it if passed, in a written statement endorsed by the hospital’s board of directors.
On January 12, 2014, an independent documentary, ''Québec 60: un documentaire'', was published on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
to counter the Quebec Charter of Values. The documentary focuses on women who wear the veil and who live in the province of Quebec. It also tackles the Charter's effects on other religious minorities: the Sikh and the Jewish communities. On its first week of release, the online documentary gathered more than 18,000 views.
On February 15, 2014 an independent documentary, ''La charte des distractions'', (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: the Charter of Distractions) was published by a collective of independent media groups which consisted of G.A.P.P.A., Les Alter Citoyens, and 99%Media as a critical view and analysis of the Quebec Charter of Values and how it represented a distraction from the real social, economic, and environmental issues that have been further exacerbated by the successive austerity measures imposed by the Parti Québécois and the Parti libéral du Québec before it. The documentary also drew parallels with what had happened a year earlier during the 2012 Quebec
Maple spring protests. The documentary also drew parallels with the
Idle No More
Idle No More is an ongoing protest Social movement, movement, founded in December 2012 by four women: three First Nations in Canada, First Nations women and one non-Native ally. It is a grassroots movement among the Indigenous peoples in Canad ...
movement and the treatment of
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
peoples. The documentary was released openly to the public on YouTube and received significant media attention.
Public reaction
Some half of Quebeckers supported the Charter at its peak, according to polls. It was, however, not a major electoral motivation issue.
The public reaction has included at least one public incident where a Quebec woman of Algerian origin wearing an Islamic veil was accosted in
Laurier Québec
Laurier Québec (formerly called and still commonly referred to as Place Laurier) is one of List of largest shopping malls in Canada, Canada's largest shopping malls. It is located in Quebec City, Quebec (in what was formerly the city of Sainte-Foy ...
shopping centre in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
by a woman citing the charter who demanded they change their religion and remove the headscarf. Another incident occurred when a white male harassed a hijab-wearing woman on a bus in Montreal. In response, there have been at least two public protest marches in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
of people of various faiths denouncing the Charter. There have also been at least two marches in support of the charter,
including the "Janettes" movement of women for
secularism
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...
.
See also
*
Canadian values
Canadian values are the commonly shared ethical and human values of Canadians.Douglas Baer, Edward Grabb, and William Johnston, "National character, regional culture, and the values of Canadians and Americans." ''Canadian Review of Sociology/Revu ...
*
Quebec ban on Religious symbols
The ''Act respecting the laicity of the State'' (), introduced and commonly referred to as Bill 21 or Law 21, is a statute passed by the National Assembly of Quebec in 2019 which asserts that Quebec is lay state (secular state). It prohibits th ...
*
Hérouxville
Hérouxville (formerly called Saint-Timothée d'Hérouxville) is a parish municipality in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, Canada. Its watershed is mainly part of the B ...
References
Further reading
* Iacovino, Raffaele. "Contextualizing the Quebec charter of values: belonging without citizenship in Quebec." ''Canadian Ethnic Studies'' 47#1 (2015): 41-60.
* Lampron, Louis-Philippe. "The Quebec Charter of Values." in Ferran Requejo & Klaus-Jürgen Nagel, eds. ''Politics of Religion and Nationalism: Federalism, Consociationalism and Secession'' (2015): 137-50.
* Tessier, Charles, and Éric Montigny. "Untangling myths and facts: Who supported the Québec Charter of Values?" ''French Politics'' 14#2 (2016): 272-285.
* Ugland, Trygve. "The Quebec Charter of Values: A Solution in Search of Problems." ''Journal of Eastern Townships Studies'' 42 (2014): 11
onlineonline]
* Pilote, Alain, Pierre-André Fournier, and Louis Évan, jt. auth. ''Quelques réflexions sur la "Charte de la laïcité ... du gouvernement de Pauline Marois''. Rougemont, Qué.: Vers demain, 2014. ''N.B''.: Compiled from articles originally having appeared in "Journal Vers demain", Jan.-Feb. 2014.
External links
* {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20131113231141/http://www.nosvaleurs.gouv.qc.ca/en#minister
English text of the bill at the National Assembly's websiteLa charte des distractions
2013 in Quebec
Clothing in politics
Clothing controversies
Political controversies in Canada
Politics of Quebec
Quebec provincial legislation
Religious controversies in Canada