Quebec Won’t Stop Tiptoeing Around Racism

Canceled Systemic Racism Inquiry, “Diversity Hearings” and Bill 62

OpinionsAakruti Patel — Published October 26, 2017

As a visible minority with immigrant parents, any issues concerning discrimination, prejudice, or racism become personal—especially if my government is trying to implement laws that add fuel to these pervasive problems.

The province did just that by passing a law that requires people to uncover their faces if they are giving or receiving any public service.

Bill 62, which passed at the National Assembly in Quebec, doesn’t mention any religious attire specifically, such as the niqab or burka. However, the bill caused controversy because of how it inevitably targets Muslim women wearing a veil.

About four years ago, the Parti Quebecois tried to implement its Charter of Values, a bill that specifically targeted overt religious symbols worn by public sector employees, including a niqab or burka. However, the party and their proposed bill met backlash from the public who criticised it for wrongfully targeting religious minorities.

Fast forward to today, and it’s now the Liberal Party’s turn to introduce a very similar bill that holds the same principles as the Charter of Values—just without spelling it out so clearly.

While the Charter of Values was meant to implement a ban on people wearing religious symbols—such as large crosses, kippahs, and headscarves—while providing public services, Bill 62 affects both sides of the exchange, even those who take public transit.

What’s disturbing is that the Charter of Values was rejected and criticized because its objectives were obvious—to ban public servants from wearing overt religious symbols. The Parti Quebecois didn’t shy away from making their intentions clear, which was to secularize Quebec by telling people what religious symbols they can or cannot wear.

Bill 62, on the other hand, is more ambiguous and vague, especially in its wording, because it doesn’t ban the niqab or burka specifically. It only says that any “face-coverings” are prohibited. However, it’s clear that the bill unfairly targets Muslim women who choose to wear a full-face veil. Anyone else who decides to wear large goggles or winter garments, which seem to also be banned due to the ambiguity, will only be slightly inconvenienced.

Racism is a tough reality, and for some reason, it’s especially tough for those who’ve never had to experience it.

In other words, this bill was passed simply because it didn’t spell out prejudice, it only suggested it.

Around the same time this bill was being passed as law, the provincial Liberal Government also reconfigured their inquiry into systemic racism meant to look into the issue of discrimination and racism that is prevalent in Quebec society.

Consultations were supposed to take place province-wide to hear personal testimonies from minorities and their daily encounters with racism. However, the plan was scratched and on Oct. 18 was replaced by what the government is now calling “diversity hearings.”

Once again, the government is refusing to acknowledge the bigger picture, which is the very serious issue of racism. By changing the format of their inquiry on systemic racism and completely omitting any mention of racism altogether, the government is essentially trivializing the problem, and worse, failing to recognize that the problem exists in the first place.

Although the “diversity hearings” might satisfy those who felt the initial inquiry into systemic racism was like putting Quebec society on trial, as a minority, this shift in focus feels like the new plan devalues our encounters with racism. That then reinforces the idea that racism isn’t a serious issue that impacts minorities, when in reality, racism continues to suppress the disenfranchised in our society in sometimes very major ways.

In the implementation of Bill 62 and the introduction of “diversity hearings,” the Liberals are just trying to cover their tracks and avoid talking about the root of the problem. Racism is a tough reality, and for some reason, it’s especially tough for those who’ve never had to experience it, which calls into question the issue of white fragility within the government body.

In fact, in most cases involving any discussion about racism, white fragility seems to take centre stage and shift the entire focus of the conversation. Instead, in the case for Bill 62 and these new “diversity hearings,” the government should accept and apologize for how their actions are being perceived, especially by those of us they impact most, rather than playing dumb.

As it stands now, the government seems more comfortable putting a spin on the issue rather than addressing it head on, which is unfortunate for the marginalized folks who are most affected by their decisions. Not only is the Liberal government passing laws that will further alienate those who already feel like a second-class citizens, but they refuse to hold themselves accountable with total disregard of the consequences, all to save face and achieve more political gain.