Women Hit by Quebec's Secularism Laws Press Parties Before Vote

Quebec votes on Monday, and for a group of Muslim women in Montreal, the question of what happens to the province's secularism laws is personal.

A Monday ritual in downtown Montreal

Muslim women who wear headscarves, along with their allies, gather every Monday outside the premier's office in downtown Montreal to contest the secularism laws. According to Pivot, the most recent gathering before this story ran was the group's 17th.

Nora, a member of the collective Québécoises musulmanes tannées, told Pivot the doors of the premier's office had been closed for several weeks. The group's weekly presence, in other words, has continued even as the building itself has shut them out.

Few politicians have shown up

The women have been trying to put the issue in front of the parties running in the election. Pivot reports that, among the major party leaders and candidates, only Alexandre Boulerice attended one of the gatherings. Boulerice is a Québec solidaire candidate and a former federal NDP MP.

The parties have responded to the issue in different ways. Parti québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced new commitments on the secularism laws. The material we have does not spell out what those commitments are. Liberal leader Charles Milliard, for his part, maintains that his party would not change the existing laws.

A declaration with wide backing

The movement is not limited to the Monday protesters. Pivot reports that a declaration opposing the instrumentalization of secularism was endorsed by 146 organizations and nearly 2,000 individuals.

What it means for the people affected

The human stakes come through in the words of one woman affected by the laws, identified only as Asma. She told Pivot she has to restart her life at 45 and do more studies. That is the practical weight behind the weekly rallies: for the women involved, the laws are not an abstract debate about the state and religion, but a reason to rebuild careers and plans.

Why readers in Ottawa may be watching

Candidates there have already been asked about their priorities, as ottown reported in ottown's earlier report, and Indigenous leaders have said the campaign barely touched issues that matter to them, as covered in ottown's earlier report.

What to watch next

The vote is on Monday. The positions on the table, as reported by Pivot, are a Parti québécois with new commitments it has announced, and a Liberal party that says it would leave the laws as they are.

Sources: Pivot