Bouchard, Taylor invited to hearings on Bill 21
QUEBEC A total of 36 groups and individuals have been invited to comment and debate the Legault government’s proposed secularism legislation, Bill 21.
Following a motion from the government’s deputy house leader, MNAs agreed Thursday that the hearings into the bill will kick off May 7 and run until May 16. The bill is to be examined by the legislature’s institutions committee.
The final list — which was the subject of negotiations among the government and three opposition parties — features eight individuals, including the authors of the 2008 Bouchard-Taylor report on religious accommodations, philosopher Charles Taylor and sociologist Gérard Bouchard.
The list was hammered out in behind-the-scenes negotiations over the last few weeks by the other parties and officials working for Immigration, Diversity and Inclusiveness Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette.
Taylor and Bouchard were requested by the Liberals and Québec solidaire. Both have emerged as harsh critics of the bill, with Bouchard recently describing it as radical.
The City of Montreal is also on the list and will speak against the bill. This week the city adopted a bipartisan motion against Bill 21.
There is a long list of groups affected directly by the bill, including the province’s unions representing workers as well as Montreal’s police brotherhood and the Syndicat des agents de protection de la faune.
The main anglophone and francophone school boards will be heard from, too.
Jolin-Barrette has also agreed to hear from institutional groups that are expected to have big questions about the bill. The list includes Quebec’s Human Rights Commission, the Quebec bar, the Ligue des droits et libertés, the Fédération des femmes du Québec and the Union des municipalités du Québec.
Julie Latour is on the list, representing the group Juristes pour la laïcité, as is former Liberal MNA Fatima Houda-Pepin and sociologist Guy Rocher.
Jolin-Barrette has stressed he is interested in hearing from various points of view on the bill, which proposes to ban authority figures in the public sector from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab, kippah, turban or crucifixes while on the job.
Elementary and high school teachers would be subject to the ban, as would judges, police officers, prison guards, correctional officers, court clerks and wildlife officers. The speaker and deputy speakers of the National Assembly are included, as are the legislature’s special constables.
The committee has allocated 45 minutes for each presentation, which includes 10 minutes for the persons and groups to present a shortened version of their briefs.
The government wants to have the bill adopted by June 14, when the house recesses for the summer. pauthier@postmedia.com Twitter.com/philipauthier