17 June 2019

Quebec Bill 21: Is it OK for public servants to wear religious symbols?

.... As a child, Amrit Kaur would watch her parents patiently helping other children with their school work, which sparked her interest in becoming a teacher.

But now, the Quebec vice-president at the World Sikh Organisation is wondering whether there's a place for her in Quebec as a school teacher as she finishes her education degree.

For her, wearing a turban is "just such an integral part of my ethos and my being that I can't [disassociate] from it".

She adds: "My faith is not something I can leave at the door. That's virtually impossible."

.... David Rand, a staunch secularist and atheist, calls Bill 21 "a perfectly reasonable restriction" similar to those already in place for public servants when it comes to showing partisan political preference while at work.

And he has little sympathy for those who argue they have been given a difficult decision between their faith and their career.

There is a certain kind of reserve that is necessary when working for the state, a certain kind of discretion, he says.

"I would not wear a T-shirt that says 'God does not exist' if I went to work in the public service and I expect the same savoir vivre of a woman who wears a hijab or a man who wears a kippah, that they would remove it if they go to work in the public service." [BBC] Read more