THE CROSS AND QUEBEC POLITICS TIGHTLY INTERTWINED
1792
Quebec’s parliamentary history begins with the first sitting of the Parliament of Lower Canada. There is no prayer or crucifix in the legislature.
1922
The Liberal government of Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau introduces a prayer to be read before every session of the Legislative Assembly, the name used since 1867 (it was renamed the National Assembly in 1968). The Liberal member who proposes the prayer suggests legislators should “ask heaven’s blessing on our deliberations.” Via the prayer, members beseech God to allow them “only to desire what is according to your will, to look for it with prudence, to know it with certainty, and to accomplish it perfectly.”
1936
In one of its first acts, the new Union Nationale government of Premier Maurice Duplessis decides to affix a crucifix above the Speaker’s chair in the Legislative Assembly. In adding the crucifix, the deeply conservative Duplessis is trying to distinguish himself from 39 years of Liberal rule by being more attentive to the Catholic Church, historians say. Duplessis’s 18-year reign is known as the Grande Noirceur (the great darkness) because it was marked by anti-communism, corruption and human-rights violations. One National Assembly historian has suggested Duplessis may have been influenced by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who had placed a crucifix in the Italian legislative chamber 13 years earlier. When Quebec’s legislative crucifix went up, a Trois-Rivières newspaper noted: “For the first time in history, Christ will preside over deliberations in the Legislative Assembly.”
1976
Under Parti Québécois Premier René Lévesque, the National Assembly abolishes the opening prayer, replacing it with a moment of reflection. Speaker Clément Richard says the change is being made “out of respect for the members of this assembly, who are not necessarily all of the same religious denomination.” (The tradition continues in the United Kingdom, where sittings of the House of Commons and the House of Lords still begin with Christian prayers). Though Quebec had largely turned its back on Catholicism during the post-Duplessis Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, the crucifix remains.
1982
During renovations of the National Assembly, the Duplessis crucifix is replaced with a new one, by Quebec artist Romuald Dion, which is still displayed today. Hand-crafted, the cross is made of mahogany, while the figure of Christ, its design inspired by the Shroud of Turin, is in bronze, steel and copper. The Duplessis-era crucifix is lost and some historians speculate it may be gathering dust in an unmarked box in the National Assembly archives.
Late 1990s and early 2000s
Lucien Bouchard, Quebec’s premier from 1996 to 2001, was known for his fits of anger. One of his worst is reported to have come when a minister — André Boisclair — wanted to discuss removing the crucifix from above the Speaker’s chair in the National Assembly. The PQ premier shut him down, telling cabinet he would not be a modern-day Joseph of Arimathea, the disciple who was given permission by Pontius Pilate to bury Jesus.
2002
Montreal city Coun. Marvin Rotrand suggests removing the crucifix that has hung in the council chamber of Montreal’s 19th-century city hall since the early days of Mayor Jean Drapeau’s reign in the 1950s. A pan-Quebec backlash ensues, with some suggesting the crucifix is a heritage item that must remain. Rotrand says the response also includes hundreds of anti-Semitic comments directed at him. In the end, a planned hearing on the issue never takes place and the crucifix is still there. City council had replaced its opening prayer with a moment of reflection in 1987.
2007
After becoming PQ leader, Boisclair says the debate over “reasonable accommodations” for religious minorities is out of control, fuelled by falsehoods, exaggerations and demagogy. “What I notice is that we are accommodating with one another,” Boisclair tells an interviewer. “I have never seen people question the fact that there is a crucifix above the head of the Speaker of the National Assembly, even though there are Jews and a member of Muslim origin” in the legislature. In his eyes, the crucifix “has no place there.” The comment is widely criticized. Boisclair flip-flops and says the symbol should stay. But the issue resurfaces when scholars Gérard Bouchard (brother of the former premier) and Charles Taylor begin public hearings into reasonable accommodations.
2008
In its final report, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission says the crucifix should go: “In keeping with the notion of the separation of church and state, we believe that the crucifix must be removed from the wall of the National Assembly, which, indeed, is the very place that symbolizes the constitutional state (a reasonable alternative would be to display it in a room devoted to the history of parliament).” The recommendation does not go down well with Quebec’s political class. That same day, the National Assembly passes a unanimous motion affirming Quebecers’ “attachment to our religious and historic heritage represented by the crucifix” in the legislature. Liberal Premier Jean Charest says: “The crucifix is about 350 years of history in Quebec that none of us are ever going to erase and of a very strong presence, in particular, of the Catholic Church, and that’s our reality.”
2011.
Two Sikhs on their way to present a brief are refused access to the National Assembly because they won’t surrender their kirpans — ceremonial daggers worn by adherents of the religion. The two go to court to contest a National Assembly motion that bans the presence of knives, scissors or other potentially dangerous objects inside the legislature. Quebec courts uphold the legislature’s right to ban the kirpan. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the Sikhs’ appeal, essentially upholding the lower court rulings.
2012.
PQ Leader Pauline Marois announces her party, if elected, will impose a charter of secularism that would bar public servants from wearing religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab, Jewish kippah or Sikh turban. A crucifix would be allowed as long as it was “discreet.” Marois wins the election with a minority.
2013.
Marois’s PQ government unveils a proposed Charter of Quebec Values, under which public workers would be prohibited from wearing religious symbols such as kippahs, turbans, burkas, hijabs and “large” crosses at work. After initially insisting the crucifix remain in the National Assembly, the PQ eventually says it would be up to MNAs to decide its fate. One day, three women protesting against the crucifix interrupt question period by baring their breasts and shouting from the legislature’s gallery. Some crucifix defenders note the National Assembly is also filled with references to the British monarch, who holds the title Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
2014
The PQ’s charter dies when Philippe Couillard’s Liberals defeat the PQ.
2015
The Supreme Court of Canada rules Saguenay city council must stop opening meetings with a Christian prayer, declaring meetings must be a “neutral public space, free from coercion, pressure and judgment on the part of public authorities in matters of spirituality.” However, it does not oblige the city to remove the crucifix from the council chamber.
2017.
The Couillard government introduces legislation that bans anyone delivering or receiving public services from wearing the niqab, burka or other face covering. However, Couillard says the assembly crucifix will stay. Meanwhile, after a complaint from the public, a Quebec City hospital removes a crucifix but quickly puts it back up after a dressing down by the health minister, a violent threat and a 13,000-name petition. Couillard approves, saying he does not think “people from other cultures” are bothered to see Christ hanging from a cross. “Managing this question of diversity does not mean turning our back to our heritage and our history,” Couillard says. The Québec solidaire political party says it’s in favour of removing the assembly’s crucifix.
2018.
François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec is elected. He says his government will introduce a secularism law in early 2019 under which teachers, police officers, prison guards, Crown prosecutors and judges will be prohibited from wearing symbols such as the hijab, kippah, turban and Christian cross. But the assembly crucifix will remain. “It’s part of our history and I don’t see that as a religious sign. I see that as being part of our history, being part of our values,” he tells reporters. “In our past we had Protestants and Catholics. They built the values we have in Quebec. We have to recognize that and not mix that with religious signs.” Legault’s suggestion that the crucifix isn’t a religious symbol makes international headlines. Quebec’s Catholic bishops tell the Montreal Gazette: “The crucifix for us is not just a heritage object — it’s a sacred religious object that should be in churches or residences for people of the Catholic faith.”