Thousands of mostly Muslim protesters took to the streets in Montreal, Canada, on Saturday to express their anger at a motion to ban public sector workers from wearing religious garb in Quebec.
The prohibition of headscarves, turbans and other religious garments is part of a proposed overhaul of the province’s “Charter of Values.”
“No to the charter” and “Quebec is not France” demonstrators shouted, referring to a similar law which has been in force in the European country for more than two years.
The planned measure, to be presented to Quebec’s parliament soon, sparked heated debate since details were leaked to the media a few weeks ago.
It would ban public sector employees from donning “conspicuous religious symbols,” including headscarves, yarmulkes, turbans and large crosses at work, but allows certain religious jewelry, as long as it is “not very visible.”
The proposal would also require people receiving state services “to make their faces completely visible” — a measure aimed at restricting some traditional head-to-toe garments worn by Muslim women.
Bernard Drainville, the Quebecois minister in charge of the issue, recently said that ridding the region of the public wearing of religious apparel by government workers would help provide a greater sense of unity among Quebecers.
The proposal also aims to foster “the religious neutrality of the state,” Drainville said.
“The best way to respect all Quebecers, the best way to respect all beliefs and all religious, is for the state to have no religion,” he said.
However, that neutrality does not apply to the crucifix that has adorned the main chamber of the Quebec National Assembly since 1936 and will stay up in deference to the province’s “cultural heritage,” the minister added.
The prospective ban has sparked strong criticism, including from a number of federal politicians, such as the head of Canada’s office dealing with issues of multiculturalism.
Canadian Minister for Employment, Social Development and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney said he was “very concerned” the measure “would limit the ability of Canadians to participate in our society, and that would affect the practice of their faith.”
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
For two decades, researchers observed members of the Ngogo chimpanzee group of Kibale National Park in Uganda spend their days eating fruits and leaves, resting, traveling and grooming in their tropical rainforest abode, but this stable community then fractured and descended into years of deadly violence. The researchers are now describing the first clearly documented example of a group of wild chimpanzees splitting into two separate factions, with one launching a series of coordinated attacks against the other. Adult males and infants were targeted, with 28 deaths. “Biting, pounding the victim with their hands, dragging them, kicking them — mostly adult males,
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
SUPERFAN: The Japanese PM played keyboard in a Deep Purple tribute band in middle school and then switched to drums at university, she told the British rock band Legendary British rock band Deep Purple yesterday made Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s day with a brief visit to their high-profile superfan as they returned to the nation they first toured more than half a century ago. Takaichi’s reputation as an amateur drummer, and a fan of hard rock and heavy metal has been well documented, and she has referred to Deep Purple as one of her favorite bands along with the likes of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. “You are my god,” a giddy Takaichi said in English to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, presenting him with a set of made-in-Japan
RSS