EDITOR’S NOTE: Quebec Premier Francois Legault is once again promising to introduce a bill banning prayer in public, responding to a recent spate of mass Islamic prayer gatherings in the province, including a weekly one in the square in front of Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal  The Catholic Register goes back to December 2024 when Legault first proposed such a law is republishing a story by Montreal Correspondent Anna Farrow in which Quebec’s bishops condemned the threat to public prayer. Notable in the response was a quote from Trois-Rivieres Bishop Martin Laliberte, who in an open letter declared: “Prayer is not dangerous.”

Has Quebec Premier François Legault pushed too far with his assertion that public prayer should be banned in the province?

A disparate group that includes the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec (AÉCQ), legal scholars and the federal government say Legault has crossed a line with his most recent moves to quash “Islamists” in the province.

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At the heart of the objections is a fundamental unease with the concept of secularity Legault is proposing.

On Dec. 6, Legault told the National Assembly press scrum he had instructed his team to look for ways to ban praying in public. The premier said he had not ruled out the use of the notwithstanding clause to achieve that goal.

Legault suggested that the matter of public prayer touched on the “fundamental values” of Quebec, values like “secularism” and “equality between men and women.”

In a quick response, Trois-Rivieres Bishop Martin Laliberte, AÉCQ president, published an open letter asserting that “prayer is not dangerous.”

The letter cites article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone has the “right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and to manifest religious belief “alone or in community with others and in public or private.”

The Quebec bishops question the merging of a secular state and a secular society.

“The secular nature of the State, an institution charged with administering the laws and regulations necessary for social peace and providing essential services to the entire population for the common good and the protection of the vulnerable, does not require the secular nature of society. Society is made up of individuals, families and groups who freely associate with one another for a variety of legitimate reasons and purposes. One of these is the collective expression of religious beliefs.”

Marion Sandilands is a constitutional lawyer, professor at University of Ottawa and an expert on the two recent pieces of legislation Legault's CAQ government introduced which made pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause. She contributed the essay “Quebec’s Bill 21 and 96: An Underwater Eruption” to a 2024 collection, The Notwithstanding Clause and the Canadian Charter: Rights, Reforms and Disagreements.

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But quite apart from the notwithstanding clause, Sandilands says “the idea of banning public prayer is so outlandish, I suspect a court would look for any way possible to strike down such a law.”

“In the days of Duplessis, long before the Charter, there were several laws and actions taken against Jehovah’s Witnesses. Courts found ways to stop these,” Sandilands said. 

Sandilands suggests the best course of action is for Quebecers “to make such an outcry that this proposal never sees the light of day.”

“I was happy to hear the Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops immediately denounce the idea. We need more of this from every corner of civil society.”

As national coordinator of the lay movement Communion and Liberation, John Zucchi is responsible for the annual Good Friday procession through the streets of Montreal hosted by the organization. Zucchi told The Catholic Register that Legault is now advocating a “hard secularism,” like that practised in France, as opposed to the “soft secularism” that has been the norm in the province.

“What we want is a kind of secularism that embraces all groups of society, including religious and non-religious, all kinds of groups," said Zucchi. "Here Legault seems to be shoving a hard form of secularism, proposing we push some people to the side in the public forum. That's really just too bad.”

Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of Aid to the Church in Need, is concerned that Legault’s specific mention of “Islamists” will contribute to a climate of hostility towards Muslims and other religious groups in the province.   

“Intolerance for me is not a value of Quebecers,” said Lalonde.

Like Sandilands, Lalonde is encouraged by the pushback she has witnessed since Legault’s comments were publicized.

“The only positive thing for me is to see how many people are responding, criticizing and giving opinions. That means that people understand more and more that religious freedom is part of the basic rights of a human being,” Lalonde said.

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Zucchi concurs and says he hopes “Quebec society is so democratic as to provide pushback.”

“By this I mean all society, not just religious groups, but anyone who believes in human and civil rights should be taking up this cause and pushing back on this issue. I would hope that Quebec society, Quebec citizens, would find this really crossing a red line.”