The Quebec government is expected to table a new bill today further expanding its secularism rules.
Radio-Canada reporting indicates that the law is expected to include a ban on prayer rooms in universities and CEGEPs, along with an expansion on a face-covering ban to educators in the province’s public and subsidized daycares.
It is also expected to include a ban on religious symbols used in communications by public institutions and a ban on public institutions exclusively offering meals based on a religious tradition.
The bill is the latest move by the Legault government, currently suffering in opinion polls, to expand its secularism rules.
Jean-François Roberge, the minister responsible for secularism in Quebec, posted a short video to X earlier this week showing a draft of the new bill with the words “c’est comme ça qu’on vit au Québec” written on it. The phrase translates to “this is how we live in Quebec.”
Ban on public prayer among measures in latest Quebec secularism bill
In October, the government adopted a new law banning religious symbols worn by any school employee who interacts with a student.
That law was itself an expansion of a 2019 law, known as Bill 21, that banned religious symbols worn by public employees deemed to be in positions of authority, including teachers, judges and police officers.
Last year, a government investigation of a Montreal elementary school found that a group of teachers had imposed autocratic rule at the school. Some of the actions outlined in that report sparked concerns that teachers at the school were imposing their religious views on students.
