OTTAWA, Ontario, November 8, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney says the federal government will launch a court challenge against Quebec's Charter of Secularism if it is deemed to violate religious freedom.
Kenney said the government will follow the situation closely and that Justice Department lawyers will be consulted. If they deem the bill unconstitutional, the federal government will “certainly challenge it,” he said, according to the Ottawa Sun.
“It's clear a majority of the members of the National Assembly do not support the charter as currently proposed,” Kenney said.
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal liberal Justin Trudeau have both condemned the bill as well.
The charter was tabled yesterday and will be presented today by Democratic Institutions Minister Bernard Drainville, who is responsible for proposing the charter.
“Our proposals will be a source of better understanding, harmony and cohesion for all Quebecers, regardless of their religion or origin,” said Drainville in a statement.
Religious leaders and human rights groups have also condemned the bill. “I think it is a violation of the right to have a religion, and to be religious. Because it is not only about private religion, private life. It's also about public life,” said Archbishop Christian Lépine.
The bill, as an attempt to keep the Quebec government “neutral”, will bar civil servants from wearing any conspicuous religious symbols in the workplace. Such symbols include large crosses or crucifixes, hijabs, burkas, kippas, veils and turbans.
The text of the bill, included as part of Quebec’s Charter of Values, was leaked to media at the end of August and released in September, and includes a graphic of what is and isn’t permitted.
The Charter of Values website says: “The best way to respect everyone’s beliefs is for the state to remain neutral and have no religion.”