Charter of Values and Québec criticism

Editor's note: this post was submitted by Jared Milne.

The debate over Québec's secular Charter of Values has been a heated one. The proposed Charter would restrict public servants from wearing conspicuous religious items such as burqas and niqabs, which many critics say infringes on the rights and freedoms of religious minorities in Québec. Quebecers who support the Charter, in turn, have been accused of bigotry, especially by other Canadians, claiming that this is just another example of the racism that is supposedly so prevalent in that province, and the supposed ethnic nationalism of the Parti Québécois.

As an Anglophone living in Alberta, I have to admit that some of these critics have left me scratching my head. I'm no fan of the Charter of Values, and I think that it would be a bad idea if implemented. What surprises and bothers me, however, is the fact that there's been so much criticism directed at Québec from critics on all parts of the spectrum, while criticism of similar attitudes in other parts of Canada and the world usually only comes from the political left, when it even appears at all.

Other parts of Canada haven't always been welcoming to religious minorities who wear conspicuous religious items. Back in the 1980s, a young Sikh man had to get the RCMP to make an exception to its uniform code so that he could wear a turban while serving as a police officer, against the hostility of many Canadians who said that he should wear the same traditional uniform as everybody else. In the 1990s in Peel Ontario, a Sikh student had to fight for his right to wear his kirpan, or ceremonial dagger, in an Ontario school. In 2008, a Sikh man in Calgary, Alberta, was barred from entering a courthouse because of his kirpan. The comments on the news article, which describe how Alberta has decided to allow Sikhs to wear their kirpans in courthouses, show how much many readers disagreed with the decision.

Prominent Canadian conservatives are expressing views similar to the ones behind the Charter of Values. In 2011, Ezra Levant fiercely criticized the Toronto police service for allowing female officers to wear hijabs and other symbols while working for the secular police force. In 2012, federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney spearheaded an initiative to bar women from wearing niqab facial veils at Canadian citizenship ceremonies.

A surprising number of Canadians in general either support the Charter of Values, or something similar to it. National Post writer Paul Russell was surprised by the number of readers who wrote in expressing support for the Charter, or even criticizing it for not banning facial coverings. A Global News poll revealed that while many Canadians outside Québec did not like the Charter of Values, they did support bans on burqa veils and kirpans.

Such attitudes exist in other English-speaking countries, too. In 2013, an Irish court ruled that Sikhs could not wear their turbans while working for the country's police force. In 2010, one of Great Britain's first Sikh judges criticized schools and other public places for barring entry to Sikh people wearing kirpans. Multiculturalism and immigration have been controversial in Britain in general. Araminta Wordsworth wrote that conservative politicians are scoring political points by attacking immigration, even as some Britons feel their 'Britishness' is being overwhelmed by immigrants who won't integrate. Other critics write that Britain's common values are being undermined by immigrants who refuse to integrate and stick to values that the critics say force women into secondary roles in society.

And just for the record, support for the Charter is not unanimous in Québec, even among the separatist movement. Prominent separatists such as Lucien and Gérard Bouchard, Jacques Parizeau and Bernard Landry have all called for the Charter's bans on religious garb to only be extended to people with coercive state powers, such as judges, police officers and prosecutors, which is exactly what commentators like Levant were calling for. Other separatists, such as Jean Dorion, head of an organization that calls for an inclusive Québec separatism, has spoken about how the Charter goes against Québec history [Google translation], and the need to welcome as many Quebecers as possible for independence to be viable.

Anybody who thinks that the attitudes behind the Charter of Values are restricted to Québec is kidding themselves. Certainly there are critics who will oppose the Québec Charter and also decry similar attitudes and actions in other parts of Canada and the world. My problem isn't with them, but with those critics who, for some strange reason, insist on singling out Québec and Quebecers as somehow being more racist than other Canadians for supporting the Charter.

Why are those Quebecers who support the Charter somehow more racist than people in other parts of Canada and the world, when similar attitudes exist not just in other Canadian provinces, but foreign countries like Great Britain and Ireland? Why is it somehow ethnic nationalism when francophone Quebecers want to impose some restrictions on religious garb, but not the likes of Ezra Levant and Jason Kenney when they decry police officers wearing veils and turbans, or ban the wearing of facial coverings in court proceedings or citizenship ceremonies?

Why is it alright for Anglophones to express concern when immigrants who refuse to integrate and adopt local values, while it's supposedly bigotry when Francophones do the exact same thing?

I honestly don't get it, I really don't.

Bill 101 and the English press

Did you hear about the pastagate? A Montréal restaurateur wants to give an exotic experience to his clientèle and uses Italian in his menu. A government representative working for the Office québécois de la langue française sees it as an offense against the state and issues a warning. The PQ government denounces the public servant's gesture, deeming it overzealous, and calls off the warning. End of story?... apparently not.

In Toronto, Canada's National Newspaper writes an editorial on the topic accusing the PQ government of fostering conditions leading to the event. The situation sheds such a ridiculous light on the province's language law, why not take advantage of it?

Apparently, the Canadian readership craves on such anecdotes, in which individuals demonstrate their lack of judgment. Here are a few others that English media deemed newsworthy:

• 1996: A woman warns the owner of a Quebec pet store she might get in touch with language authorities because Peekaboo, the parrot she wanted to buy, didn't speak French.
• 1999: The Old Navy chain is asked to rename its stores "La Vieille Rivière." It never happens.
• 2000: The owner of an Indian restaurant is told he's breaking the law by having coasters for "Double Diamond," a British beer.
• 2001: Some people express disappointment that race-car driver Jacques Villeneuve calls his restaurant "Newtown."
• 2005: Language authorities say they will investigate complaints that Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's party used the word "Go" on its campaign posters and pamphlets, as in "Go Montreal."
• 2007: Imperial Oil says it will keep its Quebec-only "Marché Express" name for its Esso gas stations after protests against a proposal to change the name to "On the Run," as the stations are known elsewhere in North America.
• 2007: Language activists decry that callers to many Quebec government offices are told to "press nine" for English before instructions are delivered in French. Some of the departments have since changed the message to put English at the end.

Meanwhile in Ontario, French speaking parents under supervised visits are not allowed to speak to their children in their mother tongue... and no English media sees it fit to cover the story [Google translation].

Foods to eat in Québec

Québec is renown for its culinary specificity. In a recent edition, the National Geographic lists the top ten foods to eat in the province:

1. Poutine
2. Bagels in Montréal
3. Tire sur la Neige in Montérégie and Laurentians
4. Cheese in Eastern Townships
5. Shish Taouk in Montreal
6. Smoked Meat Sandwich in Montreal
7. Tourtière in Quebec City
8. Couscous in Montreal
9. Haitian Tassot in Montreal
10. Lamb in Charlevoix

It's cool to witness immigration's contribution to the mix. Bagels and Smoked Meat have been there for quite a while. The more recent additions are fairly easy to spot. Click here to read the whole story.

Québec nationalists reaching out

Sovereigntists never took good care of their image outside the French speaking world. Wait... there's one word too many... allow me to rephrase. Sovereigntists never took care of their image outside the French speaking world. I always thought they needed to build bridges (click here for more on the topic) and letting others do what they want with your publicity is definitely not a good way to do it.

Stating that explaining the rationale for separatism to an Anglo crowd is a though sell is a euphemism. Somehow, the current péquiste government seems to give it some credit and named Jean-François Lisée in charge of building bridges with the English-speaking community. Even if some didn't like it, the péquistes have taken several steps in that direction and seem determine to establish a dialog.

The government is introducing changes to Bill 101 today. And Diane De Courcy, the minister in charge of these changes, is taking a shot at explaining them to the English community."The Quebec identity is multi-faceted. It hinges on our singular situation in North America, a world view that stems from our experience as a minority and, at the same time, a feeling of our originality. It comprises the values in which we recognize ourselves and a culture that is simultaneously European and North American. Above all, Quebecers of all origins share a language that is now a rallying point for them.Barely 40 years ago, the vast majority of immigrants sent their children to English-language schools and integrated naturally into the English-speaking community. We have made considerable progress in the integration of immigrants into the French-speaking community and can be proud of it, although much remains to be done to foster their integration into the labour market and increase the proportion of newcomers who settle outside the Montreal area. Today, we can more confidently welcome those who want to build Quebec with us."I know some people won't like her words (click here for the whole letter), but at least, someone's talking.