Mcgill joins dissenting voices
Proposal has university community ‘worried’
Add McGill University to the growing list of those who oppose the limits on religious freedom included in the proposed Charter of Quebec Values.
As the first university in the province to make public its position on the charter, McGill wasted little time in denouncing the charter’s proposal to ban overt religious symbols among public employees — and went so far as to say the university community would like to see the proposal withdrawn.
“The proposal to prohibit our professors and staff from wearing visible religious symbols runs contrary to our principles,” said Suzanne Fortier, the new principal and vice-chancellor of McGill who is finding out less than two weeks into her new job just how Quebec politics may permeate university life.
“All the members of the university community with whom I have spoken on this issue are clearly worried about the proposal, and would like to see it withdrawn.”
Later Tuesday, the Université de Montréal also issued a statement about the charter, saying it was premature to respond to it as an institution because it is not yet a draft bill — but affirming its commitment to values of openness, respect and di- versity, and saying that it would ask the board to seek an exemption if necessary.
Both Concordia University and the Université du Québec à Montréal said they are still consulting with their communities before taking a position on the proposed charter.
The charter has come under fire from many directions since it was introduced last week, with politicians of all stripes criticizing it, various ethnic and religious groups decrying it and many questioning its authority.
In an interview, Fortier said McGill would fight any such proposal or, at the very least would seek an exemption should it be adopted as law.
“The wearing of such symbols in no way interferes with the religious and political neutrality of McGill as an institution,” she said. “A very, very important factor for our university, for all universities, is our ability to attract the best people as professors and staff — and we want to make sure people who join our university, our city and our province don’t in any way fear they won’t be welcome.”
On Monday, the McGill University Health Centre and faculty of medicine, along with their affiliated teaching hospitals, issued a statement to their communities denouncing the component of the charter that limits overt religious symbols.
After going public with the position on Tuesday, David Eidelman, dean of medicine at McGill, said there was a very strong feeling from the hospital and academic com- munities that “it’s possible to provide neutrality and not interfere with people’s personal expression in terms of how they dress.”
He said while he agrees with elements in the proposed charter related to equality of the sexes and neutrality of the state, asking people to remove their “ostentatious religious symbols” is incompatible with how the hospital and university function.
“The people who work in the hospitals should reflect the community they serve, and the community is very diverse,” said Eidelman. However, should the charter become a draft bill, it would be up to each hospital board to study it and decide how to proceed, he said.
Jonathan Mooney, head of the Post-Graduate Students’ Society at McGill, said Fortier did a good job of canvassing the university community for its feelings on the charter.
“McGill’s position really represents the sentiment of the community at large,” said Mooney, who said he believes his association will adopt a similar position at its meeting on Wednesday.
The charter is a real concern for graduate students, in particular, because many of them work as teaching assistants or in campus jobs and would therefore be subject to it.
“For students who do wear religious symbols, it would exclude them from employment, so everybody thinks this is not necessary or appropriate,” Mooney said.