A Gatineau school board committee says it’s worried parents will be discouraged from volunteering after a local mother was reportedly told by her child’s elementary school that, due to one of the province’s secularism laws, she would have to remove her hijab if she wants to take part in an after-school event this fall.
“We already have a lot of trouble recruiting in general, so it’s a shame,” said Simon Lajoie, president of the parent committee of the board in question, the Centre de services scolaire des Portages-de-l’Outaouais (CSSPO).
Le Droit first reported details of the woman’s story on Thursday and did not identify her because she did not want to cause issues for her child.
Lajoie told Radio-Canada he has since spoken to the woman himself. He confirmed the school is in Gatineau’s Hull sector but said the woman wants to keep a low profile “in case there are reprisals.”
According to Lajoie, the woman wanted to participate in the after-school event this September.
But because of Bill 94 — which extended the Quebec ban on wearing religious symbols from just teachers and principals to everyone who interacts with students in schools — the school told the woman she would have to remove her hijab if she wanted to take part in the event, Lajoie said.
“We can understand if a parent gets involved for a school trip to a museum or whatever,” Lajoie said in French.
“But when it’s for a hot dog lunch … it blocks parental involvement [and] it can prevent certain people from wanting to get involved [at a time when] schools ask for a huge number of volunteers for activities.”
The CSSPO declined to be interviewed by CBC.
In a French-language email statement to Radio-Canada, the school board neither confirmed nor denied the woman’s account.
The CSSPO said that while it recognizes the importance of volunteers, provisions under Bill 94 apply to volunteers who offer “services” to students in educational institutions.
“For example, during a school event, a parent volunteer who participates in leading activities, distributing food or supervising students is considered to be offering a service to students,” the school board wrote.
“The CSSPO works closely with school administrations, which analyze each situation according to the nature of the involvement,” it added. “This approach aims to ensure a compliant, consistent, and respectful application of the obligations set out by the act.”
Politicians have reacted to the woman’s reported experience with a mix of mystification and dismay.
“It’s ridiculous,” Greg Fergus, the Liberal MP for Hull-Aylmer, told Radio-Canada in French on Friday. “It exposes the stupidity of this law…. Having [it apply to] volunteers doesn’t make any sense.”
Liberal MNA Madwa-Nika Cadet said she felt overwhelmed when she heard the woman’s story, “because I find it absurd.”
She continued: “We have volunteer parents, people who genuinely want to get involved in the education system. We’re already experiencing a shortage.”
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Pascal Bérubé, a Parti Québécois MNA, countered that “Quebec society has made choices regarding secularism and living together. The law is clear and must be respected.”
In an emailed statement, Quebec’s education ministry said all parents who wish to get involved in their children’s school are welcome, “without wearing religious symbols.”
“Students must be able to learn in a neutral environment, free from religious pressure and in accordance with Quebec values of gender equality,” the ministry added.
Bill 94 came into effect in October. The province more recently passed another secularism law, known as Bill 9, that puts limits on praying in public and extends a ban on wearing religious symbols to daycare workers.
