City Council wants a “balanced charter”

MONTREAL – City council has unanimously voted Tuesday not to endorse Quebec’s proposed secularism charter.

The motion made by city council does not completely oppose the charter, but it does recommend that the Parti Québécois government take a more balanced approach in its efforts to separate church from the functions of government.

Some say the result of the vote is a blatant reminder to the PQ that Montreal is a multicultural city.

The already controversial Charter of Quebec Values could have a huge impact on people of diverse religious backgrounds who work as civil servants, teachers and doctors.

Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce mayor Lionel Perez was the one who forwarded the motion.

“Everyone has the right to be respected for their beliefs,” Perez says.

“We don’t want the state to start dictating how to practice religion or what to believe in. That’s what state neutrality infers, and that’s what we wanted to affirm here today.”

Perez, a practicing Jew, wears his kippa on the job and says he has never let his faith impact his decision-making as a politician.

Louise Harel, the former PQ cabinet minister who now sits on city council, supported Perez’s motion and said it’s not about opposing the secularism charter, but rather ensuring it remains balanced.

The PQ  is expected to present its “Charter of Quebec Values” in September.

Some reports have suggested the ban would not apply as strongly to Christian public workers, who would still be allowed to wear discreet religious symbols such as crucifixes.

PQ representatives have stated that this is to protect Quebec’s history of Catholicism.

On Monday, New Democrat leader Thomas Mulcair said such a religious ban would be “blatantly unconstitutional” and violate rights guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.