I’m not flip-flopping on religious symbols: premier
Liberals point to 1998 document Marois wrote
QUEBEC — Premier Pauline Marois insisted Thursday that she has not flip-flopped in her views over visible religious symbols in the public sector.
But at the same time as Marois found herself on the defensive in the National Assembly, she got a boost as the province’s largest nursing federation came out in favour of the proposed charter of values.
“I am totally consistent,” Marois said in response to a question from Liberal House leader Jean-Marc Fournier on Thursday morning.
“Never, never in this document do we talk about ostentatious symbols, never.”
Fournier rose to question Marois about an Education Department policy document she signed in 1998 in which she appears to support the idea of allowing visible religious garb in the public sector.
A story published in The Gazette last weekend brought the policy document to light. Signed by Marois, who was education minister at the time, the document promotes “zero exclusion” and calls diversity in terms of family background, religious or cultural identity as “itself one of our shared values.”
If adopted as it is currently worded, the proposed charter of values presented by the Parti Québécois government would prohibit any ostentatious religious symbols in the public sector.
“The credibility of our policies on being open to ethnocultural diversity is based in large part on the visibility of this diversity among education personnel,” the document states.
In a second reference, it says the presence of different cultures should be a priority in the education system, which “should make an effort to attain this active and visible pluralism.”
It is signed by Marois in her capacity, at the time, as minister of education.
Marois goes so far as to ask school boards to eliminate any discriminatory hiring practices.
“It seems appropriate to ask school boards and colleges to ensure their hiring system include no practices which could have a discriminatory effect and that the diversity present in society be represented in establishments.”
“It’s impressive,” Fournier fired across the floor of the House.
“She gave orders to school boards and schools to attain an active and visible pluralism. Now, visible equals invisible.
“I ask the premier, why does she choose exclusion and division?” Fournier asked.
Taken aback, Marois quot- ed back sections of the document which talk about common values, a “Quebec for all” and integration.
“The charter contains the same line of thinking displayed in the middle 1990s,” Marois said. “And the best way to respect each other is to assure the neutrality of the state.”
Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the charter, rushed to Marois’s defence as well, saying the only reason the charter exists is because of Marois’s determination to push forward with it.
But Fournier wasn’t buying any of it and used the document to repeat the Liberals’ staunch opposition to the charter.
The charter proposal, introduced as Bill 60, has not yet been adopted but will be the subject of public hearings in January.
Drainville’s charter won’t pass “because we will be in his way, together with the rest of Quebec, standing up to him,” Fournier shot back.
Later, the Liberal Party issued a statement saying Marois’s “180-degree” shift in position on the issue can only be based on electoralist considerations.
Meanwhile, gathered for its annual meeting in Laval, the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec came out in favour of the charter.
Based on a poll of 647 members that showed that 60.1 per cent agree with the charter, the federation, which represents 62,000 nurses, adopted a resolution in favour of the charter.
pauthier@ montrealgazette.com Twitter: philipauthier