4 comments on “Léger Poll: Canadians’ Opinion on Secularism and Bill 21”

1. Brian Dingle says:

   2019-09-20 at 12:25

   I think many Canadians do not understand:

   If I attend a Federally or Provincially funded service, I do not wish to be served by someone who visibly belongs to a group which holds enmity towards me. As a member of the populace, I consider myself an employer of those who work for these institutions (Federally or Provincially funded services), and as such, I have the right to request a dress code which does not display enmity toward customers of that service. As examples, the person seeking a marriage certificate should not have to face our employee who might be wearing a button stating, “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” Or, as a Jewish member of a family ravaged by the holocaust should not be faced by a clerk adjudicating land zoning bylaws wearing a black swastika on a white circle on a red armband.
   Thus, the employer, the member of the public in this case, represented by government, has the right to insist that our employees not display symbols which have in the past, or currently continue to represent membership in groups who have enmity to the customer, or which supports ongoing sectarian violence as evidenced in countries from which customers might reasonably be emigrating, or have emigrated.
   Finding religions which do not now, and have not in the past, supported animosity (thought others should end up in hell, felt others did not have foundation for moral development, believed others could not get into heaven) toward other identity groups, is very difficult, if not impossible. The only realistic way to avoid this conflict and to be fair to everyone is to remove such symbols of membership in specific identity groups from public spaces, which can be controlled by government initiative. It is thus important to remove all visible symbols of religious affiliation, or non-affiliation, from the public workplace. This still allows use of these symbolic gestures at home, and in public spaces when outside of work hours. Indeed, it even allows for these displays in public places by people who are not employed by that public service.

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   • David Rand says:

     2019-09-20 at 13:20

     Very well said Brian. Thank you!

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   • Anonymous says:

     2020-03-12 at 21:05

     Wearing a religious sign is not a sign of enmity towards anyone. People wear these signs for themselves and their God. It has nothing to do with you or how you will be treated and the analogies you are giving are wrong. There is no correlation between a muslim woman wearing a hijab or a sikh men wearing a turban and someone wearing homophobic button. In fact, it is more often the people wearing these signs that are victims or personal attacks or hostile comments and not the other way around.

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     • David Rand says:

       2020-03-13 at 09:44

       You are totally wrong.

       If a religious believer is so fanatical that they cannot even remove their religious symbol when going to work in the public service, then they lack the qualifications for the job. It is a matter of professional ethics. It has nothing to do with “God” which is a purely human invention. Convincing people to wear religious symbols is done by religious authorities, not by non-existent deities. By wearing a religious symbol, the person is saying that the religious authority they are obeying is more important that their duty to the citizenry. That is unacceptable.

       Wearing a religious symbol at work is just as unacceptable as wearing a political slogan such as “Vote for Donald Trump”. People are free to display such things when OFF the job.

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