CAIR-CAN calls on newly-elected PQ government to adopt ‘interculturalism’ and apply the Bouchard-Taylor recommendations

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(CAIR-CAN), (a) national Muslim civil rights advocacy group is calling on Quebec’s new government to promote “interculturalism” to help strengthen the province and avoid division.

(...) “The new government should build on the recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor report. To this day, it remains the clearest outline for how Quebec can best respect and uphold the rights and freedoms of all its citizens to foster a harmonious and productive society,” says Ms. Elghawaby (CAIR-CAN Human Rights Officer).

- For Immediate Release -

(Ottawa, Canada, September 5, 2012) – A national Muslim civil rights advocacy group is calling on Quebec’s new government to promote “interculturalism” to help strengthen the province and avoid division.

“It’s time for the Parti Québécois to promote the province as a place where differences among people of all backgrounds and faiths are deemed as complementary strengths, rather than threats, to Quebec values,” says Amira Elghawaby, Human Rights Officer at the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN).

The PQ has said it would institute a Charter of Secularism once in office. The Charter would ban provincial employees from wearing overt religious symbols including kippahs, hijabs, and turbans, though crosses on necklaces would be acceptable.

Tensions within Quebec, as in other parts of Canada, have flared from time to time over the needs of diverse groups. At the request of the previous government, sociologist Gerard Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor produced a report on how the state should best balance everyone’s needs. The report included the recommendation that the province address the under-representation of ethnic minorities in government. Abridged versions of the report can be found here: English / French.

“A secular charter is the ‘radical option’ that Mr. Bouchard warned against,” says Ms. Elghawaby, referring to the sociologist’s comments last year that without a clear program on reasonable accommodation, religious freedoms could be curtailed.

“The new government should build on the recommendations of the Bouchard-Taylor report. To this day, it remains the clearest outline for how Quebec can best respect and uphold the rights and freedoms of all its citizens to foster a harmonious and productive society,” says Ms. Elghawaby.

CAIR-CAN is a national, non-profit, grassroots organization striving to be a leading voice that enriches Canadian society through Muslim civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.

Contacts:
Amira Elghawaby, CAIR-CAN Human Rights Officer, 613-254-9704 or
Ihsaan Gardee, CAIR-CAN Executive Director, 613-254-9704