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QUEBEC, November 24, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Nearly a year after the Quebec government banned religion from the province’s subsidized daycares, they have signaled that they will extend the directive into daycares run in private homes.

Jean Charest’s Liberal government issued a directive last December stipulating that government-funded daycares must not offer any activity that aims to teach a belief, dogma, or practice of a particular religion.

The directive, which took effect June 1st, banned religious prayers, crafts, and songs – including many Christmas carols.  Religious symbols, such as Christmas trees, crucifixes, and menorahs were allowed as cultural expressions, but staff cannot explain their religious significance.

Now the Ministry of Families and Seniors has indicated they will extend the ban into home-run daycares that are subsidized by the government.

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“We are in the process of preparing a directive, in the same spirit as the one we presented last year and came into force in June, but it must account for the specific context of the family environment,” the Ministry’s Étienne Gauthier told La Presse.

Minister Yolande James confirmed to the paper that they are preparing such a directive, but would not indicate the timeline.

Unsubsidized daycares are unaffected by the directives, but they must compete with the $7-a-day program offered through government subsidies (which amount to around $40 a day per child).

Georges Buscemi, head of Campagne Quebec-Vie, said the announcement signals the latest advance in the effort by the Quebec “super-state” to weed out religion from the province.

“They make it impossible to raise your children without subsidies, then once everyone is caught in the net of state subsidies and state dependency, they start reeling you in,” he said.

“Can any reasonable person not see that this is just a continuation of a steady and growing persecution against people of faith in Quebec?” he asked.  “First they remove religion from the schools, next from public daycares, next from subsidized home care.

“Then they’ll sit and wait until those changes take hold, and then what?” he continued.  “Once this socialist government has gained enough power over people’s lives, what’s to stop them from deeming certain parents ‘unfit for tax breaks’ or ‘unfit for subsidies’ because of their religious beliefs?”

“The coercion will only get stronger—unless we fight back NOW,” he insisted.  “Only the most naive person could deny that greater and greater anti-religious persecution is a distinct possibility in the province of Quebec in the not-too-distant future.”

Contact Information:

Yolande James
Ministère de la Famille et des Aînés
425, rue Saint-Amable
4e étage
Québec (Quebec)  G1R 4Z1
Telephone: 418 643-2181
Fax: 418 643-2640
E-mail: [email protected]

Premier Jean Charest
Édifice Honoré-Mercier,
3e étage
835, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec)  G1A 1B4
Phone: 418 643-5321
Fax: 418 643-3924
E-mail: Use this form.