Quebec is expanding their ban on religious symbols, and they may be contemplating using the notwithstanding clause to do it.The province plans to table the new legislation Thursday.The rules will ban prayer rooms in public institutions, like colleges and universities, and will also ban full face coverings, like the niqab, for post-secondary students.CP24 reports that this new secularism bill will not ban face coverings in public spaces.Jean-François Roberge, Quebec's Minister of Immigration, stated on Tuesday that the rules will add to the secularism bill, Bill 21: "Quebecers have advanced since 2019, which means it is necessary to strengthen our model of secularism.".Bill 21 banned many public-sector workers from wearing religious symbols at work and requires faces to be uncovered for public services, in order to ensure "religious neutrality" for the state.There has been much friction in Quebec lately over Muslim prayers taking place as part of Pro-Palestinian protests that block streets — Roberge says this is "shocking" people are using prayer to block the streets as a form of "provocation."“The goal with our secularism law is not to go as far as possible,” Roberge said about the new bill.“We are going to draft a bill that is ambitious, but moderate.”.The legislation will also put limits on public funding to 50 religious schools — institutions will not be able to teach religion during classroom hours if they wish for funding.It will also ban religious symbols from being apart of communications by public institutions.This follows a controversial poster at Montreal's city hall depicting a woman wearing a hijab — which will no longer be permitted..In subsidized daycares, menus based on religious tradition, like halal or kosher, will no longer be permitted.Quebec's government is contemplating using the notwithstanding clause for the bill to shield them from constitutional challenges — which they did back in 2019 with the introduction of Bill 21. This echoes similar secular laws that were introduced in France in 2010 — including banning all funding for religious organizations and banning all religious symbols from being worn by public service employees.Roberge foreshadowed the bill by posting on X Monday the translated "secularism 2.0" and in an accompanying clip he signs a paper that reads, "This is how we live in Quebec."
