Lisée in favour of accommodating Muslim students
PQ leader would support rescheduling provincewide test that falls on holiday
Jean-François Lisée says he would be in favour of a plan to postpone a provincewide elementary-school exam next year because it interferes with a Muslim holiday.
The PQ leader weighed in Wednesday on a recent spat between a Montreal school board and the education ministry over the timing of a French exam.
“The goal in this is for kids to succeed,” said Lisée, on the eve of Thursday’s provincial election campaign launch. “When a school board makes its calendar, there are variables — like the absence of large numbers of students — where the board tries to maximize the amount of children that will be in class.
“This is one of those variables, and I would just let them do their work.”
The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) wants to move the test from June 5 to June 7 so that its Muslim students won’t have to take an exam during a high holiday.
The last day of Ramadan falls on June 5 next year, and it’s customary for families celebrating it to spend the day together, exchanging gifts and gathering for a community feast.
After a representative for the ministry told Le Devoir they never discussed the issue with the CSDM, they amended their statement to say the government is “in negotiations” over the date change.
But to Lisée, accommodating these students seems perfectly reasonable.
“The thing you have to realize is that for Muslims, Ramadan is basically the equivalent of Christmas,” said Stephen Brown, a Montrealer who celebrates the holiday with his wife and two sons. “I mean, what kid would want to spend Christmas writing an exam instead of opening presents?”
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims spend their days fasting and can only eat and drink water after the sun goes down.
The holiday is meant to be a month of reflection when people give thanks for the blessings in their lives and also raise money for charity.
When the fast ends on June 5 next year, families will gather for a brunch, exchange sweets and give their children presents.
“You try to take the day off work and just be with your family,” Brown said.
“It’s meaningful that a politician would recognize that.”
The PQ’s relationship with Muslim Quebecers has been strained since the debate over religious accommodations reached its climax in 2014.
Back then, the PQ government’s Charter of Quebec Values would have barred Muslim women from wearing a hijab while working in government jobs.
The charter was ostensibly meant to create a purely secular public service, but critics said its main focus was on the Muslim faith and on Muslim women in particular.
Though Lisée has said he stands by most of the original charter — specifically the elements that would prevent judges, police officers and prison guards from wearing religious garments — he concedes that some of its provisions could be softened.