Most of the commentary on the Quebec government’s proposed Charter of Values has focused on Quebec, but it has unveiled more about Canada as a whole than just that part of our population in Quebec. And what has been unmasked is disturbing.
That the Parti Quebecois is using this charter in the main to stoke Quebec nationalism seems plain enough. It also goes along with those in the province who try to emulate whatever France does.
Given France’s huge problems regarding its immigrant population—including the mere existence of far-right, racist politicians—this seems dubious at best.
But polls of Canadians regarding Quebec’s proposals reveal troubling statistics. Only 47 per cent of Canadians disapprove of the proposed legislation to forbid religious headwear and symbols being worn by public officials. And an astonishing 42 per cent approve the idea, despite it being clearly anti-immigrant and anti-religion.
Moreover, one wonders just how much farther our major political parties will go in opposing the charter given that almost half of Conservatives and nearly 40 per cent of New Democrats favour the proposal, while not quite a third of Liberals do.
And while most pundits were decrying the charter either for targeting immigrants or simply being unworkable, the anti-religion, secularist aspect was being lauded by some leading media pundits. The Globe and Mail’s Doug Saunders approved the goal of creating a secular state and wrote about how he had “fired” a physician who during examinations would say, “God’s will.”
“Who wants a doctor whose faith resides in anything other than medicine?” he wrote, as if faith in science and faith in God were mutually exclusive. All my regular physicians, from different denominations and faiths, believe in God and they seem completely competent in their practice of medicine.
So the proposed charter seems to have revealed fear of The Other on the right and fear/anger/dismissiveness of religion on the left. None of this is good and it is startlingly devoid of underlying reasons.
Canada is already secular in the sense of religion not figuring in any obvious way in governance and law (the ambiguous “supremacy of God” in the Preamble to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms notwithstanding).
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Not only are Canadians free to worship who and what they will, they are free not to worship any being. The government does not support religion, although religious institutions get breaks on property taxes—a fair exchange for being the largest deliverers of community services after the government itself.
And when was the last time you heard of a public servant try to proselytize someone?
And in this nation of immigrants—only one in 40 Canadians is recognized as aboriginal—which is thriving in every sense of the word, its cities the envy of many, where is there cause to fear the religion of newer immigrants?
I’m sure the vast majority of Canadians want the government to be neutral with respect to religion. And it is. Which means there is clearly some work to be done in addressing irrational fears.
