Quebecers divided on religious symbols ban for certain public employees
According to a new national public opinion poll from the Angus Reid Institute, Quebecers are in support of the religious symbols ban but are divided on how and whether it should be enforced. Public hearings are now underway regarding the proposed law that would ban public employees from wearing religious symbols in the workplace. Two thirds of Quebecers (64%) support the overall bill but the province is equally divided on whether firing an employee would be an appropriate measure. A wide majority (86%) believe that jail time is an improper action and that if the bill does pass it would only exacerbate negative relations between ethnic groups in Quebec.
Context looked at the controversial Bill-21 and how it would affect religious freedom in Quebec. Peter Stockland, publisher of Convivium Magazine, told Lorna Dueck, “religious belief is your deepest conviction about the nature of the universe, not just society. To interfere with that and to single people out, to target them, is simply unacceptable.”
