Secularism in Quebec schools: experts calls for dialogue and diversity

In 5 seconds An inter-university research group has serious questions about Quebec's Bill 94, which tightens secularism in the province's education system.

With clause-by-clause consideration of Quebec's Bill 94 (An Act to, in particular, reinforce laicity in the education network and to amend various legislative provisions) set to begin in Quebec's legislature, an inter-university education research group is calling for balance.

In a brief submitted to the committee studying the new law and how it follows the principles of 2019's Bill 21 (An Act respecting the laicity of the State), the group questions the need for new measures and advocates an inclusive approach that embraces religious diversity in schools.

The brief was prepared by Inclusion and Ethnocultural Diversity in Education, known by its French acronym IDÉE, made up of nine researchers and more than 50 students from a number of Quebec universities.

Among them are Université de Montréal professors Marie-Odile Magnan and Julie Larochelle-Audet, of the Department of Administration and Fundamentals of Education.

The authors state at the outset that they aren’t questioning the basic principles of secularism but rather proposing a vision in which secularism becomes a means of building a fairer and more inclusive society.

'We don't see the problem'

Marie-Odile Magnan and Julie Larochelle-Audet

Not only does Bill 94 “fly in the face of the scientific literature on the subject, but the (Coalition avenir Québec) government has no data supporting the need to strengthen the Act respecting the laicity of the State, which already establishes guardrails,” said Magnan.

Larochelle-Audet shares her concern. “We don’t see the problem the bill is trying to fix,” she said. “The bill is largely based on non-public data and compromises some of the pillars of Quebec’s education system, such as the right to equal opportunity and socialization.”

The IDÉE team questions the way the government is using the controversy over "toxic" Islamic influence at Bedford Elementary School in Montreal's multi-ethnic Côte-des-Neiges district to justify reinforcing secularism at all schools across Quebec.

“The official report that came out of the government's investigation (of Bedford in 2023 and 2024) described a labour dispute and breaches of the Education Act, but did not find any violations of the Act respecting the laicity of the State,” Larochelle-Audet said.

“And only one breach of the Act was clearly identified in (a subsequent) report on 17 other schools.”

She also noted that the field data that led to the Bedford report and information on the complaints that led to the investigations are not available. “According to some sources, the alleged breaches were essentially of an administrative nature,” she said.

The researchers are therefore concerned that a narrative about “breaches of secularism” has been constructed based on limited reports and incomplete data, which raises questions about the reality and scale of the alleged problem.

Especially discriminatory

The brief also delves into some negative consequences of the Act respecting the laicity of the State, which prohibits government employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols. The authors argue its effects are discriminatory, especially for Muslim women.

“We are concerned about the bill’s potentially exclusionary and discriminatory consequences,” said Larochelle-Audet. “The model supported by the government has exacerbated feelings of exclusion among the affected teachers and undermined their sense of belonging to Quebec society.”

Research cited in the brief indicates that school communities are actually supportive of teachers who wear the hijab, added Magnan. “And there is no data to show that teachers wearing religious symbols in the classroom has a negative effect on students."

Said Larochelle-Audet: “We are not aware of any documented case of proselytizing by a member of school staff wearing a religious symbol.”

The studies cited in the brief demonstrate that, just as with linguistic diversity, allowing for religious diversity has a positive impact on student engagement and academic performance. “Religion can even be a factor in preventing the radicalization of young people and feelings of isolation,” the authors write.

The brief also defends reasonable accommodations as a crucial instrument for ensuring the equality rights protected by Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and addressing indirect discrimination, such as that arising from school calendars based on Christian tradition.

The authors argue that the training provided to school administrators on accommodations should be improved.

'No retreat'

“Before 2019, we had open secularism that promoted inclusion, not one based on a retreat into identity,” said Magnan. “That’s why the IDÉE team is calling for Bill 94 to be withdrawn, as there is no empirical evidence to support its purpose.” 

“We need more data and more studies on the subject,” Larochelle-Audet concluded.

“The government hasn’t done its homework on the consequences of strengthening secularism, particularly in the schools. We want to emphasize the role of the school as a place for learning secularism and coexistence, and we don’t want that to be suppressed by this law.”

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