Montreal Jewish community groups are calling for the withdrawal of Bill-60, better known as the charter of values, which would ban religious symbols from the public sphere.
Federation CJA and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs-Quebec are calling the bill a “bad solution to a non-existent problem.”
The bill would amend the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms to ensure state secularism by prohibiting public and para-public workers from wearing “religious objects that overtly indicate a religious affiliation,” including the kippah.
The advocacy groups said the bill proposes “serious restrictions to fundamental freedoms… [that] marginalizes individuals of minority faiths by undermining the principle of state religious neutrality.
Public consultations on the bill are slated to begin Jan. 14.
