Angela Merkel deemed multiculturalism — the idea that social harmony is best achieved through celebrating our differences — a complete failure in Germany. David Cameron claimed it facilitated the rise of radical Islam in Britain and called for “stronger societies and identities at home,” along with a “much more active, muscular liberalism” that “believes in certain values and actively promotes them.”
Last fall, the European backlash against multiculturalism crossed the Atlantic and landed in Quebec, when the governing Parti Québécois proposed the Charter of Values, which sets out a vision of government that breaks sharply with Canada’s broader multicultural ethos.
Quebec, of course, (...) has never been reluctant to go against the Canadian grain. (...) Quebecers’ dissent from the rest of Canada extends as deep as the country’s Constitution. The Charter of Values is the latest expression of Quebec’s dim view of multiculturalism. Among other things, the bill affirms the secular nature of Quebec’s government and denies religious requests for accommodations of dress in public sector employment: After a transition period, government workers would have to refrain from wearing conspicuous religious symbols — for instance, the Muslim hijab, the Sikh turban or the Christian cross — while on the job.
As usual, though, when Quebec veers from the Canadian path, controversy breaks out. The Ottawan government has even vowed to challenge the charter in the national courts if it passes. Critics are claiming that the bill infringes on the liberties of Muslims and other minorities. Oddly, though, they do not balk at the current ban, for all government workers, on the expression of other social or political beliefs through their attire.
For no clear reason, multiculturalists seem to think some personal preferences are more permissibly expressed by government workers than others. In any case, a truly secular state should not permit the symbols of any religion, whether of the majority or a minority, to breach the wall between church and state advocated by no less than Thomas Jefferson; hence the Parti Québécois’ decision to remove the crucifix that famously hangs in the legislature.
The charter is actually just the next logical step along the path of secularization. Until 1960, when its authority began to dip, the Roman Catholic Church held much sway in Quebec. It was only 20 years ago that Christian school boards were secularized and only 10 that Catholic and Protestant classes were moved out of the schools and into the churches.
(...)
Quebec’s approach to the separation of church and state is thus rigorous, progressive and modern. It is, in fact, in cosmopolitan Montreal, not in more homogeneous French regions of Quebec, that one finds the strongest supporters of the religious neutrality of state employees’ attire: 61 percent of the Francophone majority living in the city. (Admittedly, Montreal’s Anglophone minority is very much opposed, five to one.)
(...) If the charter does pass — a vote is expected in the spring — the very federal Constitution that Quebec has never approved might be invoked to strike it down. But the Canadian Supreme Court has a history of surprising governments in its major rulings, and it has become less enamored with multiculturalism in recent decisions. In fact, throughout the country, multiculturalists have been increasingly on the defensive in recent years, not least because of the concern over the multiplication of ethnic enclaves. Around 40 percent of Canadians outside Quebec support the Quebec Charter.
In a very real sense, the debate over Quebec’s charter may be the last stand of Canada’s multiculturalist experiment. Whatever the immediate outcome, it may be only a matter of time until Canadian multiculturalism finds itself buried alongside its European siblings.
Quel bonheur de voir un ministre qui s'efforce de faire sa job, c'est-à-dire de défendre le Québec à l'étranger et de rectifier les faits après qu'un de ces fédéralistes haineux soit venu vomir son fiel sur la moquette.
Lisée ne saurait être plus haut dans mon estime.