Anglican bishops in Quebec are strongly opposing a planned law that would ban prayer in public spaces, warning it would further erode human rights while criminalizing people of faith.
Claiming that the “proliferation of street prayer is a serious and sensitive issue,” Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge announced Aug. 28 that the provincial government would introduce a bill in the fall to “strengthen secularism in Quebec, in particular by banning street prayers.”
Bishop of Quebec Bruce Myers said such a law would violate the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of peaceful assembly enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Quebec’s own Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He described the proposed prayer ban as an attempt by an unpopular government to distract the public.
“This offers an easy opportunity to divert the electorate’s attention away from this government’s unpopularity and some of the scandals it’s mired in and towards something that appeals to a significant portion of their base of support, which is attacking religion and religious groups,” Myers says. “It’s proven a winning formula for them in the past.”
The planned law fits with the government’s “overall programme of aggressive secularism,” Myers says, but “takes it much further than any other government in the West has ever proposed going.”
A poll by the Angus Reid Institute released Sept. 9 found Premier François Legault’s support at a record low, with 22 per cent of Quebecers— one in five—approving of him and 72 per cent saying they do not support him, making Legault the least popular premier in Canada.
Legault said in December that he would consider using the notwithstanding clause, which allows Canada’s Parliament or provincial governments to limit certain Charter rights for up to five years, as part of an effort to send “a very clear message to Islamists.”
“Seeing people praying in the streets, in public parks, is not something we want in Quebec,” Legault said, adding, “When we want to pray, we go to a church, we go to a mosque, but not in public places.”
In a Sept. 30 speech to Quebec’s National Assembly, Legault offered further context for his proposed bill. He described the rise of “politicoreligious groups that are attacking some of our common values, such as secularism,” adding, “Let’s be honest, it is mainly radical Islamists who are attacking these values with the most intensity.”
“I want to be very clear: I am not targeting Quebecers of Muslim faith or who are from Muslim countries,” Legault said. “I’m talking about radical Islamists, a group of people who are trying by all means to impose their values, to challenge our values and in particular women’s right to equality.
“We must be very clear about this, we will not let anyone attack the freedom dearly acquired by Quebec women over decades, ever. So, I am announcing to you that the government will introduce a new bill to strengthen the secularism of the state and will take all possible means to counter the attacks on our common values.”
Law would ‘contravene basic human rights’: Myers
Myers responded, “If the government bakes the notwithstanding clause into this bill, as it has done with previous legislation, they’re effectively admitting that they know they’re proposing a law that contravenes basic human rights and freedoms as laid out in the federal charter.”
While the public would need to wait for the bill to be introduced to see its content, Myers says, the government’s plans raise a number of questions.
“What constitutes prayer?” he asks. “Who’s going to make that determination?”
“How’s it going to be enforced? … Roving provincial prayer police?” he adds. “Is [there] going to be a public prayer hotline that people can call if they see someone purportedly praying in public? If it weren’t so unsettling in how it’s another demonstration of government overreach and a deep interference into individual and communities of fundamental rights, it would be comical. But it’s not. It’s really troubling.”
If the government’s intent is to respond to hateful speech at gatherings that could be considered prayerful, Myers says, laws already exist against hate speech and unlawful public assemblies.
Banning prayer in public would have an immediate effect on Anglicans in Quebec, Myers says. He points to the annual Good Friday walk in Quebec City, which brings together local Christians from across denominations. The walk includes readings from the Passion narrative, singing hymns and praying in public. “Is that going to be banned?” he asks.
He points to the annual spring blessing of fishing boats, crews and equipment, a public ceremony that take place in port communities across Quebec. “These are rituals that have been a part of those communities’ lives for generations,” Myers says.
He cites the blessing of pets and animals each fall around the Feast of St. Francis, as in one eastern township where the blessing takes place outdoors near a local farmer’s market. “People are invited to bring their pets and they love doing that,” Myers says. “Is that going to be banned?
“Like a lot of really bad ideas, I don’t think this one has been particularly well thought out by the people who are framing this proposed law. And it’s going to have all sorts of unintended consequences and collateral damage for all sorts of communities, even if it’s really intended to target one community in particular.”
The proposed law is “something that all citizens of Quebec, whether they are active participants in a faith tradition or not, should be concerned about because it represents a further erosion of what are really fundamental human rights,” Myers says.
Bishop-elect of Montreal Victor-David Mbuyi Bipungo also opposes the law and says he agrees with Myers and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal Christian Lépine, who said in an open letter that banning public prayer would be like “forbidding thought itself.”
“I can’t imagine that everyone who can pray public publicly could be treated as a criminal,” Mbuyi Bipungo says. “It’s not right.”
“I’m surprised and I’m disappointed because I’m feeling that as a Christian, as a believer, I’m considered as a criminal,” he adds. “It’s not understandable to me … We must stand up and fight against this misunderstanding of what being a believer means today.”
Mbuyi Bipungo expresses concern about the scope of the ban and acts it would criminalize, which he says threaten freedom of religion and expression. “Can we say that yoga exercises in the park could be considered as a [form of] prayer?” he asks.
The Anglican Journal reached out for comment from Roberge’s office, but had not received a response as of press time.
