Lisée, Coderre duel over religious neutrality bill
The leader of the Parti Québécois says he is in complete disagreement with Mayor Denis Coderre, who says he wants nothing to do with a Quebec religious neutrality bill.
In an open letter to the mayor posted on his Facebook page, Jean-François Lisée said Coderre is trying to use Montreal’s status as a metropolis to exclude itself from laws being adopted by the National Assembly, and that is not acceptable.
“Mr. Mayor, Montreal is part of Quebec,” Lisée writes. “Montrealers are part of the Quebec nation.”
On Wednesday, Coderre re-affirmed Montreal’s opposition to the Liberal government’s neutrality bill, which is before a committee of the legislature for a clause-by-clause study.
“We have always said that it is not up to the government, no matter which, to decide how our employees will dress, how we will render services,” Coderre said. “We are all OK with faces being covered while providing services.”
On Tuesday, the government tabled amendments to the proposed law, Bill 62, extending its rules to municipalities and public transit companies. Quebec wants to adopt the bill before the next election in 2018.
Lisée said he favours a decentralization of powers to municipalities, but the mayor is going too far.
“I must express my total disagreement with your attempt to use your status as the metropolis to exclude yourselves from National Assembly laws dealing with secularism and living together,” Lisée wrote.
“Your statement represents an unhealthy drifting. Do you want tomorrow to exclude Montreal from certain clauses and future clauses of Bill 101? The labour code? The criminal code?”
Lisée goes on to say Montreal citizens are represented in the legislature by politicians from several parties, and questions of immigration and secularism are part of Montreal’s reality. Lisée himself is the MNA for Rosemont riding.
Lisée says Coderre is right in saying such a bill will affect Montreal more than other regions, but says based on that logic other mayors could use the same line to exclude themselves from bills affecting forestry, mines and fishing. “They don’t do it,” Lisée said. Bill 62 was tabled by the Liberals in 2015 but has been languishing on the order paper ever since. If passed, it will bar individuals from offering and receiving public services if their faces are covered.
Asked whether that means a person would be denied the use of public transit or libraries, the minister responsible for the bill, Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée, said such questions will be addressed if the changes are adopted.
Coderre was also a staunch opponent of the old PQ government’s charter of values, which would have banned any religious apparel or symbols in the public service.
Do you want tomorrow to exclude Montreal from certain clauses and future clauses of Bill 101? The labour code? The criminal code?