In the News:
Overview of the Year 2024 and Secularism

2024, une année centrale pour la laïcité de l’État (2024, Pivotal year for State Secularism), Marie-Claude Girard, Le Devoir, 2024-12-30.

Several steps have been taken over the years towards a secular state in Quebec. We need only think of the creation of the Ministry of Education during the Quiet Revolution, the deconfessionalization of school boards in 2000, or the Act respecting the State secularism (Bill 21) in 2019. This great epic has not yet come to an end. Here is a reminder of some events that occurred in 2024.

The following is a summary. See the original French-language article for details.

• February 5^th: A second draft bill C-373 to repeal the religious exception in the hate propaganda law.
• February 29^th: The Quebec Court of Appeal confirms the constitutionality of Bill 21.
• March 21^st: Quebec Superior Court authorizes Droits Collectifs Québec (DCQ) and the Mouvement laïque québécois (MLQ) to bring legal action against the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec.
• April 26^th: The RPL and several Quebec political parties oppose the federal government’s initiative to expand access to Islamic mortgages.
• April 29^th: Members of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) oppose their union’s decision to challenge Bill 21 before the Supreme Court.
• June 19^th: The Montreal borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville authorizes a religious group to organize a collective Muslim prayer in a park, thereby contradicting its own regulation.
• July 9^th: Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal withdraws from the Bill 21 case.
• July: The mayor of Montreal promises to remove the image of a veiled woman from city hall lobby.
• September: The textbooks for the new Quebec Culture and Citizenship program contain serious gaps in their presentation of secularism.
• October 22^nd: In the wake of the Bedford affair, Premier Legault mandates Ministers Drainville and Roberge to find ways to strengthen controls and secularism in Quebec schools.
• November 27^th: The Advisory Committee on Constitutional Issues in Quebec recommends providing Quebec with a codified constitution that would include fundamental laws, including Bill 21.
• November 29^th: The Quebec government asks the federal government to repeal the religious exception in the hate propaganda law.
• December 6^th: Legault says he is considering legislation to ban prayer in public spaces, as well as a draft constitution.

See also:

• AFT Supports Draft Legislation to Repeal the Religious Exception for Hate Propaganda
• Municipal Funding of Opponents of Bill 21 is Illegal
• Quebec Asks for Repeal of Religious Exception
• The Religious Exception for Hate Propaganda has Lasted Long Enough, by members of RPL, 2024-12-03.
• Decisive Action for Secular Schools, Nadia El-Mabrouk, President of RPL, 2024-11-11.
• Prayers in Public Spaces, Letter from RPL to Minister Roberge
• Religious Ceremonies in the Parks and Streets of Montreal