New secularism bill threatens practicing students
Bill 9 will ban prayer rooms in public spaces such as universities by 2026
Amid a series of secularism bills tabled by the Quebec government, Samy Khelifi, the president of Concordia University’s Muslim Student Association (MSA), said he feels betrayed by the government.
On Nov. 27, François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government passed Bill 9, a new expansion to the 2019 secularism legislation that would now limit public prayer and extend a ban on wearing religious symbols to daycare workers.
The bill would require public institutions, including universities, to ban prayer spaces, unless municipally authorized; prohibit public spaces from only offering religious-specific food menus; and expand on Bill 21’s restrictions by forbidding daycare workers from wearing face coverings and requiring individuals to “have their face uncovered” when receiving a service.
The bill levies the threat of fines of up to $1,125 for groups or $375 for individuals in contravention of the prohibition on collective religious practice.
According to Khelifi, the new ban is inevitably going to make practicing students at Concordia and other Quebec universities feel less safe.
“People won’t stop praying because there’s not a prayer space,” he said. “What happens to those people if they all go pray out on random parts of the Hall building?”
According to recent research by the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Muslim women reported higher levels of alienation and workplace discrimination following Bill 21.
Under the new legislation, Concordia’s prayer room will have to close by 2026.
Khelifi claimed that the prayer rooms at Concordia are not public property and are independent from the university.
The prayer room is located on the seventh floor of the Henry F. Hall building, and all spaces on that floor belong to the Concordia Student Union (CSU). The university does not maintain the floor, but they do have final jurisdiction over it due to their ownership of the building.
Food and religion
Regarding the bill’s regulation around exclusively halal and kosher food menus, Concordia Food Coalition general coordinator Gabriela Lopes worries the bill will make life for student groups looking to sell or give out food more complicated than it already is.
Lopes explained that free food services, like those provided by the Hive Café Solidarity Co-op and The People’s Potato, will likely face challenges due to their limited budgets, resources, and desire to feed as many people as possible.
“Their strategy is to prepare meals for the ‘lowest common denominator.’ A vegan, kosher, halal, gluten-free, allergen-careful menu that will feed more people than other kinds of meals,” Lopes said.
Where do we go from here?
CSU external and mobilization coordinator Danna Ballantyne calls Quebec’s actions unsurprising but nonetheless dangerous. She linked Quebec’s recent secularism action to similar bills that passed in France in 2023, which outlawed the wearing of the abaya in public schools.
“People won’t stop praying because there’s not a prayer space.” — Samy Khelifi, Concordia Muslim Student Association
“What's happened [in France] has been obviously a more extreme example of the ways in which these laws are weaponized directly against Muslims,” Ballantyne said.
Ballantyne said the student union is looking forward to directly working with the MSA and other Muslim student associations to represent students’ needs.
Despite Bill 9 being tabled less than a week ago, the CSU is already working to create a solution for students.
According to Ballantyne, the new CSU building, which is still being renovated, will include a prayer room.
“Having that space in the student building, whether it be on Mackay [St.] or at another location, is going to be really important,” she said.
Ballantyne will be meeting with the Office of Student Life & Engagement, formally known as the Dean of Students' office, and the MSA in the coming week to discuss the future of prayer rooms at Concordia.
“I think we are in a good position right now in terms of the fact that both the administration and the CSU are aware of the very important role that the Muslim Student Association has within the Concordia community as one of the oldest and most well-established clubs,” Ballantyne said.
With Bill 9 voted in, Ballantyne believes the union needs to be prepared to help students and fight for their freedoms.
“At the rate things are going, it's important that we are planning for this,” she said, “just because it doesn't seem that the government is going to stand down on any of these new bills.”
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