{"id":58081,"date":"2025-09-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/2025\/09\/03\/canadian-province-of-quebec-plans-to-ban-public-prayer-amid-debate-over-religious-freedoms\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T00:00:00","slug":"canadian-province-of-quebec-plans-to-ban-public-prayer-amid-debate-over-religious-freedoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/2025\/09\/03\/canadian-province-of-quebec-plans-to-ban-public-prayer-amid-debate-over-religious-freedoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Province of Quebec Plans to Ban Public Prayer Amid Debate Over Religious Freedoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canadian Province of Quebec Plans to Ban
\nPublic Prayer Amid Debate Over Religious Freedoms<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Quebec government\u2019s plan to ban public prayer has
\nsparked widespread controversy, with rights organizations describing the move
\nas targeting religious minorities and threatening fundamental freedoms.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Quebec is located in eastern Canada, with Quebec City
\nas its capital, while Montreal is the province\u2019s largest city and its leading
\neconomic and cultural hub.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement followed statements by Quebec Premier
\nFran\u00e7ois Legault, who voiced disapproval of scenes of prayer in Montreal\u2019s
\nstreets and public parks, saying: \u201cWhen you want to pray, go to a church or
\nmosque, not a public space.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge, the province\u2019s Minister of
\nSecularism, confirmed that the government would introduce legislation on the
\nmatter this coming fall, justifying it by pointing to what he described as the
\nspread of a \u201cstreet prayer phenomenon,\u201d which he called a \u201csensitive and
\nserious issue.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The decision triggered a wave of protests, most
\nnotably a demonstration organized by the group Montreal for Palestine outside
\nNotre-Dame Cathedral, during which participants held a group prayer that in
\nturn sparked counter-protests.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

For years, Quebec has faced criticism over its
\nsecularism-related legislation, particularly Bill 21, passed in 2019, which
\nprohibits certain government employees\u2014such as judges and teachers\u2014from wearing
\nreligious symbols while on duty, despite its conflict with Canadian charters of
\nrights and freedoms.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadian Islamic Forum said the government was
\n\u201cmonitoring fundamental rights\u201d instead of addressing real problems, while the
\nCanadian Civil Liberties Association described the decision as a violation of
\nfreedom of religion, expression, and peaceful assembly.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Harini Sivalingam, Director of the Equality Program at
\nthe association, stated: \u201cSuppressing religious expression under the guise of
\nsecularism undermines the principles of dignity and equality.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite rights-based opposition, the move has
\npolitical backing from some leaders, including Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader Paul
\nSt-Pierre Plamondon, who described public prayer as \u201cthe occupation of public
\nspace by religious fundamentalists.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

But journalist and former senator Andr\u00e9 Pratte
\ncriticized the stance, stressing that Muslims were being singled out:
\n\u201cCatholics have prayed in public spaces for decades; what worries the
\ngovernment are Muslims.\u201d He argued the move reflects an attempt by an unpopular
\ngovernment to regain support.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

(Source: The Guardian)<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

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* \u0644\u0644\u0627\u0637\u0644\u0627\u0639 \u0639\u0644\u0649
\n\u0627\u0644\u062a\u0631\u062c\u0645\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0643\u0627\u0645\u0644\u0629 \u0644\u0644\u062e\u0628\u0631 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0644\u063a\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629<\/span><\/b>\u060c \u0627\u0636\u063a\u0637 (\u0647\u0646\u0627<\/a><\/span><\/b>).<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadian Province of Quebec Plans to Ban Public Prayer Amid Debate Over Religious Freedoms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":58536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iumsonline.cloud\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}