A proposed bill to intensify a crackdown on public displays of religion, including prayer, would radically infringe the rights and freedoms of the people of Quebec, according to the province’s Catholic Bishops.
Bill 9, introduced by the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) on Thursday, bans prayer in public institutions, including in colleges and universities. It also bans communal prayer on public roads and in parks, with the threat of large fines for groups in contravention of the prohibition.
Short public events will require prior approval to be exempt.
CAQ has made secularism a key legislative priority, passing the controversial Bill 21 – which bars many public sector workers from wearing religious symbols– in 2019. It plans to extend that prohibition to far more categories of workers in the present bill.
According to the Guardian newspaper, ‘the ban on public prayer comes after the group Montreal4Palestine organised Sunday protests outside the city’s Notre-Dame Basilica that included prayers.’
“This latter point is particularly worrying, as we have long considered that secularism concerns not relations within society, but the relationship between the state and religions”.
