Public daycares must drop religious instruction: Quebec

QUEBEC – Family Minister Tony Tomassi, who denied on Tuesday that government-funded day-care centres are dispensing religious instruction, admitted Wednesday the practice exists, but said it would end.

“Henceforth” about 20 daycares in the province offering instruction to children from birth to five-years-of-age will not be allowed to teach religion to their children, he said.

“We will sit down with them’ Tomassi said.

News reports say that ultra-orthodox Jewish, Islamic and Christian operators of subsidized daycare centres have been offering instruction in their respective religions.

The opposition Parti Québécois objects that while Quebec has made its public-school system non-denominational, religion appeared to be slipping back through the public day-care system.