Quebec's Ban on Prayer Rooms in Schools: Unreasonable and Illegal?

2023-06-13 19:41:15

A court examined Tuesday the decree of the CAQ government which prohibits prayer rooms in Quebec schools. Groups have asked Superior Court Judge Lukasz Granosik to suspend the application of this measure pending a final judgment on its validity.

According to them, such a ban is “unreasonable and illegal”.

Invoking “the secular nature of public schools”, the Quebec government sent a directive to schools last April so that their premises would no longer be used for “manifest prayers or other similar practices”. This directive was quickly supported by a decree.

According to the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, the presence of such premises was simply not compatible with the principle of secularism of the Quebec state. “School is not a place of prayer,” he decided.

But the decree changed many things for a Muslim student who attended a Montreal high school. While he was praying on school grounds or in an authorized place – without this raising any problem, it is alleged in the legal proceedings – he was told that it would no longer be possible, due to the new government directive. According to the precepts of his faith, he must say five prayers a day at specific times, including one at lunchtime. If he leaves the school grounds for his prayer, he risks arriving late for his next class, it is alleged. The 16-year-old asks that the decree be invalidated, as it is contrary to his freedom of religion protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

His situation “is representative of that of many students and children in elementary and secondary schools in Quebec who will no longer be able to freely practice their faith. »

The request for invalidation of the decree is led by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (CNMC) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (ACLC), which consider that the CAQ directive is unconstitutional. It also goes further than the prohibition of premises because it targets any religious practice, they plead, adding that it also removes any possibility for schools to offer reasonable accommodation to students who request it.

Impact on Muslims

The ACLC believes that the decree has a disproportionate impact on students of the Muslim faith because their prayers are not silent or discreet, explained Laura Berger, legal counsel at the organization.

“It sends a message of exclusion,” she argued at a press conference on Tuesday in front of the Montreal courthouse, shortly before the hearing. “The directive from the Minister of Education is another rule that aims to flout the rights of religious minorities in Quebec. »

And to those who say that schools are places of learning and not of worship, the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Stephen Brown, counters that students also have emotional needs when they are at home. school and that the decree requires them to leave “a part of themselves when they leave home”.

Children should not have to hide to pray, he denounces.

According to Mr. Berger, no Canadian province has formulated such a broad prohibition against prayer rooms in schools.

The purpose of their legal action is not that there be a dedicated room for prayer in every school, but rather that each of them can find a reasonable solution for their students who wish to pray safely.

The Quebec government defended its decree before the magistrate, arguing that like all laws and government directives, it is presumed to have been adopted in the public interest. There is therefore no question of suspending its application before a full constitutional review, he argues.

Other Muslim groups had already filed a request to have the decree invalidated. It is possible for the two appeals to be joined so that there is a single trial.

Judge Granosik has indicated that he wishes to render judgment on Wednesday morning.