In the wake of such controversies as the emergence of religion in schools, Quebec needs to “send a clear message to Islamists,” premier says.
He said Quebec made a decision years ago to be a secular state and people today are “a bit fed up” to see displays of faith like people praying in the street.
“I think we have to make the difference between public places and praying in a church or a mosque,” Legault said. “You should pray in a place that’s for praying, but in public parks or public streets … we’ll look at what we can do, but that’s not what we want.
“We will look at the means we can use, legally or otherwise.”
Pressed by reporters on how he would proceed and whether that could entail use of the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to override fundamental rights, Legault answered without a blink of an eye.
“Right now we’re studying all options,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers. It’s something we’re looking at.”
“So you’re not saying it’s a no,” a reporter asked.
“I’m not saying it’s a no,” Legault answered.
The government used the notwithstanding clause to shield the law from court challenges, but some groups are nevertheless trying to overturn the law.
The law, however, did not stretch as far as the public domain. Some jurisdictions have gone much further on religious restrictions than Quebec. Since April 2011, for example, France has imposed a ban on full-face veils in public areas.
“To see people, on their knees, in the street, praying … we have to ask ourselves the question. I don’t think it’s something we should see.”
He said in the wake of such controversies as the emergence of religion in schools, Quebec needs to “send a clear message to Islamists.”
“We will fight for the fundamental values we have in Quebec, like the equality of men and women,” he said. “We will never accept that people don’t respect these values.”
He said Quebec could entrench in the constitution certain Quebec values that Quebecers hold dearly: laicity, the equality of men and women, the importance of integrating new arrivals.
He said he has asked Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette to get working on the constitution.
Asked when he wanted to see the plan, Legault said: “The sooner the better.”
His comments come at the end of a session that, as was the case in 2023, was mired in controversy and setbacks. Into the second half of its second mandate, the CAQ struggled to stay on message despite numerous distractions, including trying to manage a record $11-billion deficit.
His departure creates a fresh headache for Legault, who will have to call a byelection in the riding of Terrebonne at a time when the CAQ is way behind the PQ in the polls.
In the traditional season’s greetings exchanged with the other leaders as the session ended, Legault made a joke about the mess.
“Last year I asked for a compass for Christmas,” Legault quipped. “This year I feel like asking for a battery. Here’s hoping Santa Claus does not go bankrupt.”
But without exception, a series of polls showed the CAQ trailing the PQ and confidence in the government at a low ebb. One Pallas poll done for L’Actualité showed 53 per cent of Quebecers think Legault should resign rather than seek a third mandate.
On Friday, he said he does not feel “pushed” in any way toward retirement and is even drawing energy from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat of a 25-per-cent tariff on Quebec and Canadian goods.
That is what concerns him, “not my election in 2026,” Legault said.
“I say to myself, I had Covid and now I have Donald Trump,” he said.
On the positive side, he said under his leadership Quebecers on average today have more disposable income than they did a year earlier. The government is also over the hump of negotiating a contract with public-sector workers.
With QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on parental leave, new party co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal handled the end-of-session news conference on Friday. She insisted that “contrary to appearances,” QS remains united.
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he’s hoping the looming Terrebonne byelection to replace Fitzgibbon brings a fifth PQ MNA into the fold.
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay ripped into the CAQ and Legault, describing the government as “at the end of its runway.”
“Mr. Legault is in his seventh year in office and in a free fall,” Tanguay said, noting the Liberals are rebuilding with a new leader to take his place in 2025.
When presented by former Economy and Energy Minister Fitzgibbon in June 2024, the bill was considered priority legislation for the government. After Fitzgibbon resigned, his replacement, Christine Fréchette, took on defending the bill, but it never made it past the consultation process.
Last week, Fréchette blamed the lack of movement on the arrival of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. She said his posture on tariffs, which would affect Quebec’s energy exports, has changed many of the givens of the bill.
The legislature resumes sitting on Jan. 28, 2025.
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