Scowl or shrug? Federal ministers’ reactions to charter differ
OTTAWA — The Conservative cabinet appears to have two different sets of talking points on the controversial Quebec charter — some typed up in boldface, and others in a tiny footnote font.
Over the past two weeks, federal ministers have been asked to react to the Parti Quebecois’s proposal to limit conspicuous signs of religion in the public sector.
The response has been that Ottawa will study the final product, and determine whether it violates the right to freedom of religion. Beyond that, however, the answers have been distinct.
While initially more cautious, Employment Minister Jason Kenney has used progressively sharper language to describe the proposed charter.
“When Quebecers begin to actually contemplate the idea that provincial bureaucrats might be getting out a tape measure to measure the size of people’s crosses … this gets to a point of almost Monty Python-esque absurdity,” he told CTV’s Question Period.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he doesn’t see the charter going anywhere in its current form.
By contrast, senior Quebec ministers have seemed reluctant to wade too deeply into the debate.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney at first refused to take questions from reporters on the issue two weeks ago. When he finally did pro- vide a comment, it was to say that he was letting provincial politicians sort it out.
“I’m the MP for Lévis-Bellechasse-Etchemins,” Blaney said. “I have two provincial members right now who will consider the bill and I trust them to represent the views of the people of (the riding) in the National Assembly.”
After the PQ government officially unveiled details about the charter, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair openly criticized the project as “statemandated discrimination.”