Premiers mostly quiet on symbol ban

SA SK ATOON • Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister pulled aside the premier of Quebec at the provincial leaders' annual meeting to try to convince him to drop the law against religious symbols.

The two leaders spoke privately on Thursday, the final day of the three-day summit in Saskatoon.

Premier François Legault said the premiers will have to agree to disagree.

“I think what's happening in Quebec must be under the responsibility of Quebecers and the Quebec premier,” Legault said before the meeting. “That's it.”

The day before Pallister condemned the legislation as “a danger to the freedoms that we value” and said that he feels he must stand up and say it's wrong.

The majority of the premiers at the Council of the Federation were silent on the issue. They focused heavily on internal trade, pipeline politics and the carbon tax.

The Post contacted each premier at the meetings, asking for comment on the law, which is the subject of a court challenge in Quebec.

The legislation covers all religious symbols that might be worn by teachers, police, judges and other public servants, but it has been criticized for targeting Muslims, Jews and Sikhs.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said such a law would have “no place in Ontario.”

“Our government is for the people, all the people. As premier, I will always protect an individual's fundamental rights — including religious freedom and freedom of expression," said Ford's statement to the Post.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has criticized the legislation in the legislature, saying “in Alberta we believe in pluralism and respect for religious freedom, including the right of people to wear the ostensible signs of their religious faith,” but was muted in Saskatoon when asked to comment.

“I've expressed my concerns about that bill but at the end of the day that's a policy of the government of Quebec and it's not something for us to contest as a government,” Kenney said.

A statement from Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil was also mild: “We would not consider similar legislation in Nova Scotia. We are proud to be a welcoming, inclusive province where diversity is celebrated.”

Scott Moe, Saskatchewan premier and chair of the conference, said “We're not entertaining or having any discussion with respect to a similar bill in Saskatchewan.”

Sandy Silver, the Yukon premier and Joe Savikataaq, the Nunavut premier, did not reply to a request for comment. Nor did B.C.'s John Horgan or several of the Atlantic Canada premiers: New Brunswick's Blaine Higgs, P.E.I.'s Dennis King or Newfoundland and Labrador's Dwight Ball. Bob McLeod, the premier of the Northwest Territories, was en route to home, and his staff could not reach him for a comment. With files from Marie-Danielle

Smith