as session wraps up, legault says quebec wants to ban praying in public
in the wake of such controversies as the emergence of religion in schools, quebec needs to "send a clear message to islamists," premier says.
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quebec — premier françois legault says he’s uncomfortable seeing people praying in public and places such as parks and his government is examining ways to ban it — even if it requires use of the notwithstanding clause to override fundamental rights. on the same day education minister bernard drainville announced quebec will table new legislation reinforcing the rules of secularism in schools that will go beyond bill 21, legault used his news conference wrapping up the sitting of the legislature to again dip into the theme of identity politics.
he said quebec made a decision years ago to be a secular state and people today are “a bit fed up” to see displays of faith like people praying in the street.
“i think we have to make the difference between public places and praying in a church or a mosque,” legault said. “you should pray in a place that’s for praying, but in public parks or public streets … we’ll look at what we can do, but that’s not what we want.
“we will look at the means we can use, legally or otherwise.”
pressed by reporters on how he would proceed and whether that could entail use of the constitution’s notwithstanding clause to override fundamental rights, legault answered in the blink of an eye.
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“right now we’re studying all options,” he said. “i don’t have all the answers. it’s something we’re looking at.”
“so you’re not saying it’s a no,” a reporter asked.
“i’m not saying it’s a no,” legault answered.
it’s the farthest legault has gone down the path of banning public displays of religion. in june 2019, shortly after coming to power, his coalition avenir québec government adopted bill 21, which barred persons in positions of authority such as teachers and police officers from wearing religious symbols in the workplace.
the government used the notwithstanding clause to shield the law from court challenges, but some groups are nevertheless trying to overturn it.
the law, however, did not stretch as far as the public domain. some jurisdictions have gone much further on religious restrictions than quebec. since april 2011, for example, france has imposed a ban on full-face veils in public areas.
but at a news conference where he said the taxpayer’s pocketbook and identity issues are his current priorities, legault agreed when asked whether he considers praying in public an issue.
“to see people, on their knees, in the street, praying … we have to ask ourselves the question. i don’t think it’s something we should see.”
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he said in the wake of such controversies as the emergence of religion in schools, quebec needs to “send a clear message to islamists.”
“we will fight for the fundamental values we have in quebec, like the equality of men and women,” he said. “we will never accept that people don’t respect these values.”
he went further. following the presentation this fall of a report suggesting quebec equip itself with its own constitution, legault said the idea interests him.
he said quebec could entrench in the constitution certain quebec values that quebecers hold dearly: laicity, the equality of men and women, the importance of integrating new arrivals.
he said he has asked justice minister simon jolin-barrette to get working on the constitution.
asked when he wanted to see the plan, legault said: “the sooner the better.”
his comments come at the end of a session that, as was the case in 2023, was mired in controversy and setbacks. into the second half of its second mandate, the caq struggled to stay on message despite numerous distractions, including trying to manage a record $11-billion deficit.
legault’s session started in september with the surprise resignation of his star minister of the economy, pierre fitzgibbon, who said he no longer felt motivated enough to continue.
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his departure creates a fresh headache for legault, who will have to call a byelection in the riding of terrebonne at a time when the caq is way behind the pq in the polls.
that was followed two weeks later by the departure of st-jérôme mna yourri chassin to sit as an independent. in leaving he took shots at his old party, saying it has lost its way, falling into the trap of thinking the best way to solve problems is by shovelling more money at them.
things seemed to just get worse when the government’s landmark economic deal, northvolt, hit financial turbulence with speculation the plant it has promised for montreal’s south shore might never be built.
in the traditional season’s greetings exchanged with the other leaders as the session ended, legault made a joke about the mess.
“last year i asked for a compass for christmas,” legault quipped. “this year i feel like asking for a battery. here’s hoping santa claus does not go bankrupt.”
but without exception, a series of polls showed the caq trailing the pq and confidence in the government at a low ebb. one pallas poll done for l’actualité showed 53 per cent of quebecers think legault should resign rather than seek a third mandate.
he defiantly responded, saying he guaranteed quebecers he will run again.
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on friday, he said he does not feel “pushed” in any way toward retirement and is even drawing energy from u.s. president-elect donald trump’s threat of a 25-per-cent tariff on quebec and canadian goods.
that is what concerns him, “not my election in 2026,” legault said.
“i say to myself, i had covid and now i have donald trump,” he said.
on the positive side, he said under his leadership quebecers on average today have more disposable income than they did a year earlier. the government is also over the hump of negotiating a contract with public-sector workers.
things were not all rosy for the opposition parties, either. as was the case in 2023, québec solidaire was mired in an internal caucus crisis after maurice-richard mna haroun bouazzi sparked a controversy by saying some mnas in the legislature were racist.
with qs co-spokesperson gabriel nadeau-dubois on parental leave, new party co-spokesperson ruba ghazal handled the end-of-session news conference on friday. she insisted that “contrary to appearances,” qs remains united.
parti québécois leader paul st-pierre plamondon said he’s hoping the looming terrebonne byelection to replace fitzgibbon brings a fifth pq mna into the fold.
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interim liberal leader marc tanguay ripped into the caq and legault, describing the government as “at the end of its runway.”
“mr. legault is in his seventh year in office and in a free fall,” tanguay said, noting the liberals are rebuilding with a new leader to take his place in 2025.
many of the 18 bills adopted dated back to june, but several key pieces of legislation remain a work in progress. among them is bill 69 on the governance of energy, which remains on the order paper but was not adopted.
when presented by former economy and energy minister fitzgibbon in june 2024, the bill was considered priority legislation for the government. after fitzgibbon resigned, his replacement, christine fréchette, took on defending the bill, but it never made it past the consultation process.
last week, fréchette blamed the lack of movement on the arrival of u.s. president-elect donald trump. she said his posture on tariffs, which would affect quebec’s energy exports, has changed many of the givens of the bill.
the legislature resumes sitting on jan. 28, 2025.
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