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François Legault ‘picking on Muslims’ with new threat to ban public prayer in Quebec

by Lorraine Carpenter

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller reacted to the Quebec Premier’s comments about, as Legault said, sending “a very clear message to Islamists” by outlawing public prayer.

Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters last Friday that his government wants to ban prayer in public places, such as parks and in the streets, in order to “send a very clear message to Islamists.” When asked to comment on this news on Tuesday, Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that Legault “keeps picking on Muslims.”

“I don’t know what Legault is picking on. It seems to me that it’s always Muslims,” Miller said, calling for respect for freedom of expression and religion, which are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Legault has said that the CAQ would once again use the notwithstanding clause to shield the prayer ban from constitutional challenges.

Miller also pointed out the irony of Legault’s call for a ban on public prayer, and increased secularism in general (particularly in schools), just hours before attending the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The proposed prayer ban has also been criticized by the Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops.

François Legault ‘picking on Muslims’ with new threat to ban public prayer in Quebec

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by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following the closure of the alt weekly newspaper the Mirror, where she worked as a writer and editor for 12 years. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal and maintaining an independent voice in the Canadian media landscape.