SHERBROOKE – Liberal leader Jean Charest waded carefully into the debate over reasonable accommodation in Quebec on Wednesday morning, clarifying his own stance on the crucifix that currently hangs in the National Assembly.
“It’s an important part of our history,” Charest said of the Christian symbol during a news conference in his home riding of Sherbrooke.
“We’re not going to rewrite history (to suggest) that the church has not played an important role in Quebec society.”
The crucifix, which has been the subject of debate in the past, was first mentioned in the context of the election campaign on Tuesday, when Parti Québécois star candidate Djemila Benhabib suggested that she would prefer that it be removed from the legislature.
The Algerian-born Benhabib later clarified, however, that she would support her party’s position on the matter, which is that the crucifix should stay.
Charest seized the opportunity on Wednesday to suggest PQ leader Pauline Marois is struggling to rein in her troops.
“I don’t know how she can be ready to govern if her candidates are constantly contradicting her,” the Liberal leader quipped.
If elected, the PQ has pledged to introduce a so-called Charter of Secularism that would forbid government employees from wearing religious symbols, including turbans and the skull cap, or kippah, worn by Jewish men.
The new rules would, however, would permit an employee to don a crucifix, providing that it isn’t “too big.”
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Charest said that his government has already addressed issues pertaining to religious garb worn by public servants.
“We presented a bill, Bill 94, and what does that law say? It affirms that when you give or receive services from the government of Quebec, it is done with face uncovered,” Charest said.
“We believe in that law, and we believe that it should be adopted.
“It’s part of a series of measures that we have put forward. Another is the declaration that new immigrants must sign regarding Quebecois values.”
The PQ opposed Bill 94 when it was tabled in March, 2010, suggesting it did not go far enough. The legislation has not yet been passed into law.
Charest was in Sherbrooke, a riding he has represented for the past 14 years, to announce new measures intended to encourage young Quebecers to start their own businesses once they finish school.
If elected, the Liberals have pledged that they would extend a high school course in entrepreneurship to every secondary school in the province, and introduce a new element to the course which would permit students to meet two entrepreneurs in the flesh.
“We want them to have direct access to people who have lived this,” Charest explained.
The Liberals would also modify another high school course titled “Monde contemporain,” adding a requirement of 10 hours of volunteer work in order to receive a passing grade.
The student could complete the requirement within the school or in their community, Charest said.
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