Law on the religious neutrality: the minister Valley forced to adjust the shooting

Kathryne Lamontagne

Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:06

UPDATE
Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:55

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Contrary to what the minister of Justice argued last week, the new law on religious neutrality does not force the other person to have the face uncovered for the duration of a bus trip.

Stéphanie Vallée announced Tuesday the principles for the application of this new legislation marked by the critics, the uncertainty and the questioning since its adoption last Wednesday.

The obligation to give and receive public services with their faces uncovered only applies at the time of the interaction between individuals, she said. Thus, a person who climbs aboard a bus must do so with their faces uncovered exclusively for id in order to validate his ticket, if it is accompanied by a photo.

To the opposite of what he had advanced to Mrs. Valley last week, this same person will not to discover the face and for the rest of the way. The minister had given the same speech by the parliamentary commission on bill 62, alleging that the act would apply to “the duration of the reception of the public service”, stressed the mp, pq’s Agnès Maltais.

Same note on the side of Québec solidaire. “We twisted his arm to vote for a law without knowing what was in it. And here today, once it is adopted, it is stated, and it is made clear, even contradicting what they said at the time it defended the draft law in the parliamentary committee”, denounced the co-spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Apologies

The minister of Justice said to have been “consistent” in his explanations. “If my words could be called upon to be construed, I make amends and I apologize for that”, she conceded halfheartedly.

Ms. Valley wanted to show reassuring, recalling that the law responded to issues of communication, identification and security. “There will be no police in the face uncovered”, she assured, adding that “nobody will be expelled from the bus or thrown out of a library”, or “private” health care emergency”.

An individual will even discover the face in the hospital, in interaction with a staff member. He may have the face covered in the waiting room, however. In educational institutions, the students shall also have the face discovered in class and during examinations.

All of these cases, however, may be the subject of reasonable accommodation. If the act is currently in force, the terms and conditions surrounding the processing of these requests shall not, however, revealed that by the end of the month of June.

No “controversy”

Despite the outcry in the face of the act, the minister is of the opinion that there is no “controversy”. She reached out once more to the municipalities, Montreal, having made it known that it did not intend to apply this law. In the case of a persistent refusal, the government might resort to the injunction. “But we’re not there,” she said.