Quebec discrimination

Re: Quebec clerics call out bias in COVID rules, Nov. 23

I have a hard time viewing Premier François Legault’s holiday Christmas gathering plans as anything but insensitive at best, and discriminatory at worst. Let’s set the table. At the conclusion of Friday’s presser, Legault said “we’ ll need strength to get through this pandemic and to find this strength we need our families ( this) holiday season … family is the basis of our lives.” When asked if there can be any provisions for those who don’t celebrate Christmas to gather with their loved ones, such as Hanukkah ( even if they followed the same health and safety protocols outlined for the Christmas period), Legault responded flatly: “We say no.”

Let’s put aside the debate as to whether COVID will take a Christmas break, but instead focus on the application of select rules and privileges to certain groups. When Premier Legault says, to get through the pandemic we need the strength of our families and that family is the basis of our lives, does he include Jewish families, who already sacrificed Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur among other gatherings, in this group? What about Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains, who scaled back or cancelled Diwali celebrations; or Muslims who similarly forwent Eid and Ramadan; and African Americans who will have to curtail Kwanzaa? And, I’ll give you 10- to- one odds that Chinese New Year celebrations will not be permitted as well.

Shouldn’t all groups have to sacrifice equally? Shouldn’t rights and responsibilities be an all or none proposition? Don’t all people, regardless of their cultural background, need the same ties of family to get through this difficult period? Well, according to Premier Legault, “we say no.” Jonathan Goldman, Montreal