TODAY: Montreal protest against CAQ’s proposed public-prayer ban

An outdoor pray-in will take place in Montreal this afternoon to protest a proposed ban on public prayer in Quebec by the CAQ. Citing alleged instances of Montrealers blocking traffic with group prayer in the streets, Quebec Premier François Legault said, in early December, that the CAQ is looking into banning public prayer — and once again using the notwithstanding clause to block constitutional challenges to the law, as they did with Bill 21 and Bill 96.

The organizers of today’s event, Independent Jewish Voices, invite the public to a family-friendly pray-in demonstration to protest systemic Islamophobia and an encroachment on civil liberties.

“As Jews, we stand in solidarity with Muslim communities who continue to face discrimination under Legault’s policies. We will continue to pray for and with our Muslim cousins, and continue to do all that we can to make sure it is safe for them to pray and to live.”

The pray-in will take place at the corner of Sherbrooke and McGill College at 3:45 p.m.

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Last week, federal Finance Minister Marc Miller criticized Legault for “picking on Muslims,” and noted that this ban would contravene Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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