Announcement follows statements from Quebec premier, who expressed frustration over public prayers in Montreal
Quebec says it will ban prayer in public, a move that civil rights groups described as an “alarming measure” which targets religious minority groups and would infringe on “basic democratic freedoms”.
The province’s secularism minister, Jean-François Roberge, said the move had been prompted by the “proliferation of street prayer” which he described as “a serious and sensitive issue” adding that the government had watched with “unease”. Roberge said the government would introduce legislation in the fall.
The announcement follows public statements from Quebec premier François Legault, who expressed mounting frustration over public prayers in the province’s largest city, Montreal.
“To see people praying in the street, in public parks, this is not something we want in Quebec,” he said last year. “When you want to pray, you go in a church or a mosque, not in a public place.”
