Watch: Quebec charter witness shocked by mosques
MONTREAL – A family’s controversial testimony during public hearings into Quebec’s secularism charter has brought widespread attention – with an online video of their appearance attracting nearly 300,000 views in just a few days.
Video excerpts of the Pineault-Caron family’s testimony posted on YouTube show them recalling how surprised they were by local religious practices during their visits to the predominantly Muslim countries of Morocco and Turkey.
READ MORE: Quebec charter hearing witness relates mosque experience in testimony
Their comments last Thursday in favour of the values charter came during public hearings into the contentious legislation – a proposal that would ban public employees from wearing religious symbols, such as the Muslim veil, in the workplace.
In her testimony, Genevieve Caron said she was stunned to see people on all fours on small rugs while they prayed in a Moroccan mosque.
She added that she was taken aback when she was asked to follow the custom of removing her shoes before entering the building.
Her husband, Claude Pineault, said people wearing Muslim veils tried to pickpocket him at a market in Morocco and he believed it would be unthinkable to allow people in Quebec to walk around wearing such “disguises.”
The couple’s comments at the hearings were swiftly criticized on social media for being ignorant.
The Parti Quebecois government’s identity charter has stirred heated debate in a province where polls suggest more than half the population supports the bill.
READ MORE: Leger poll gives Parti Quebecois edge over Liberals
Proponents of Bill 60 say it’s an important piece of legislation that would ensure gender equality and protect the province from what has been described as encroaching religious fundamentalism.
Critics have called the minority PQ government’s plan unnecessary and an attack on personal freedoms that violates the federal and Quebec charters of rights.
Opponents believe the PQ could use identity as a wedge issue in the province’s next election campaign, which some observers predict could begin as early as next month.
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