The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has sent a formal demand letter to Quebec Premier François Legault, condemning his proposal to ban public prayer and his suggestion to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause to shield the policy from constitutional challenges.The proposal follows media reports of Muslim prayers in Laval schools and similar incidents prompting investigations in 17 schools. Legault stated, “Seeing people praying in the streets, in public parks, is not something we want in Quebec.” He suggested prayer should be confined to mosques or churches.Constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin criticized the ban as contradictory to secularism principles, including state neutrality and religious freedom. “The ban borrows from the intolerant overtones of a state atheism… of which history has retained only sad memories,” he said. The Justice Centre warned the move would suppress basic freedoms and violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has sent a formal demand letter to Quebec Premier François Legault, condemning his proposal to ban public prayer and his suggestion to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause to shield the policy from constitutional challenges.The proposal follows media reports of Muslim prayers in Laval schools and similar incidents prompting investigations in 17 schools. Legault stated, “Seeing people praying in the streets, in public parks, is not something we want in Quebec.” He suggested prayer should be confined to mosques or churches.Constitutional lawyer Olivier Séguin criticized the ban as contradictory to secularism principles, including state neutrality and religious freedom. “The ban borrows from the intolerant overtones of a state atheism… of which history has retained only sad memories,” he said. The Justice Centre warned the move would suppress basic freedoms and violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
