Quebec mandates a committee
to "strengthen" Bill 21
The Legault government has tasked a committee of experts with evaluating the possibility of strengthening the Act respecting the laicity of the State, Le Devoir has learned. It will be co-chaired by two lawyers who defended Bill 21 in court.
The minister responsible for secularism, Jean-François Roberge, will announce Monday that he is setting up the Study Committee on the respect of the principles of the Act respecting the laicity of the State and on religious influences.
Co-directed by law professor Guillaume Rousseau and former Liberal MNA Christiane Pelchat — also former president of the Council on the Status of Women — its mandate will be to verify that Bill 21 is indeed applied on Quebec territory, while studying cases of religious "entryism" within Quebec institutions. "We want to make sure that the law lives and is known and respected both in its spirit and in its letter," said Minister Roberge in an interview with Le Devoir.
For François Legault's government, there is no longer any doubt that the law on religious neutrality, adopted in 2019, has a consensus. But certain events over the past year have prompted him to think even further.Already, the saga involving Bedford School in Montreal has led the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, to announce his intentions to strengthen the application of the Act respecting the laicity of the State in schools. Last December, Premier Legault even said that he was considering legislation to ban prayers in the streets.
"To see people on their knees in the street praying, I think we have to ask ourselves the question. I don't think it's something we should see," he said in a press briefing where he targeted "Islamist" entryism in the school system.
Expand your reachIn addition to studying the application of the law, the working group mandated by Minister Roberge will have to evaluate all avenues that would make it possible to "strengthen" secularism in Quebec. Extend its reach to CEGEPs, universities, childcare centres,
hospitals? Nothing is excluded.
"The committee will verify [...] if there are religious excesses, if there are people who try to infiltrate our institutions to make them deviate a little from their mission," said Mr. Roberge, who expects a final report next August.
"After all this analysis, he will be able to make recommendations to us to ensure that the law as it is applies. But also, it will evaluate the opportunity to extend the law to sectors or institutions that it does not cover," added Mr. Roberge on the other end of the line.
A contested lawThe Legault government's decision on a possible strengthening of its law "has not been made." However, it is already clear that he will not wait for the Supreme Court of Canada to take a position on its constitutionality. The country's highest court agreed in January to look into the case, in which the federal government will also intervene.
Both lawyers, Christiane Pelchat and Guillaume Rousseau are well aware of the ins and outs of Bill 21.
The first is a lawyer for the group Pour les droits des femmes du Québec, which defended the Quebec model of secularism before the Quebec Court of Appeal. The second represented the Mouvement laïque québécois in the same cause. These two organizations will participate in the defense of the law on religious neutrality in the Supreme Court.
Jean-François Roberge doesn't see a problem with that. "The government does not question the relevance of Bill 21. We are convinced of its necessity," he said. "So, in that sense, to have two seasoned jurists who have a bias in favour of the principle behind the law, it's quite natural."
"I am convinced that there is no conflict of interest," he added.
A press conference is scheduled for Monday in Montreal to officially mandate the committee.
The minister responsible for secularism, Jean-François Roberge, will announce Monday that he is setting up the Study Committee on the respect of the principles of the Act respecting the laicity of the State and on religious influences.
Co-directed by law professor Guillaume Rousseau and former Liberal MNA Christiane Pelchat — also former president of the Council on the Status of Women — its mandate will be to verify that Bill 21 is indeed applied on Quebec territory, while studying cases of religious "entryism" within Quebec institutions. "We want to make sure that the law lives and is known and respected both in its spirit and in its letter," said Minister Roberge in an interview with Le Devoir.
For François Legault's government, there is no longer any doubt that the law on religious neutrality, adopted in 2019, has a consensus. But certain events over the past year have prompted him to think even further.Already, the saga involving Bedford School in Montreal has led the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, to announce his intentions to strengthen the application of the Act respecting the laicity of the State in schools. Last December, Premier Legault even said that he was considering legislation to ban prayers in the streets.
"To see people on their knees in the street praying, I think we have to ask ourselves the question. I don't think it's something we should see," he said in a press briefing where he targeted "Islamist" entryism in the school system.
Expand your reachIn addition to studying the application of the law, the working group mandated by Minister Roberge will have to evaluate all avenues that would make it possible to "strengthen" secularism in Quebec. Extend its reach to CEGEPs, universities, childcare centres,
hospitals? Nothing is excluded.
"The committee will verify [...] if there are religious excesses, if there are people who try to infiltrate our institutions to make them deviate a little from their mission," said Mr. Roberge, who expects a final report next August.
"After all this analysis, he will be able to make recommendations to us to ensure that the law as it is applies. But also, it will evaluate the opportunity to extend the law to sectors or institutions that it does not cover," added Mr. Roberge on the other end of the line.
A contested lawThe Legault government's decision on a possible strengthening of its law "has not been made." However, it is already clear that he will not wait for the Supreme Court of Canada to take a position on its constitutionality. The country's highest court agreed in January to look into the case, in which the federal government will also intervene.
Both lawyers, Christiane Pelchat and Guillaume Rousseau are well aware of the ins and outs of Bill 21.
The first is a lawyer for the group Pour les droits des femmes du Québec, which defended the Quebec model of secularism before the Quebec Court of Appeal. The second represented the Mouvement laïque québécois in the same cause. These two organizations will participate in the defense of the law on religious neutrality in the Supreme Court.
Jean-François Roberge doesn't see a problem with that. "The government does not question the relevance of Bill 21. We are convinced of its necessity," he said. "So, in that sense, to have two seasoned jurists who have a bias in favour of the principle behind the law, it's quite natural."
"I am convinced that there is no conflict of interest," he added.
A press conference is scheduled for Monday in Montreal to officially mandate the committee.
