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Almost exactly five years ago, at the height of the first fury of the crucifix in the National Assembly, the Catholic Bishops of Quebec issued a statement specifying their feelings on the issue.
If democratically elected MPs decide to remove the crucifix from power, they will respect that decision.
But the crucifix is undoubtedly a religious symbol of the Catholic faith, continued the statement of October 2013 – "not a museum artifact or just a memory of the past or a part of our heritage."
"It must be treated with all due respect to a fundamental symbol of the Catholic faith," wrote the Quebec Assembly of Bishops.
Prime Minister-designate François Legault now suggests that the crucifix of the National Assembly is part of our history, not a religious symbol.
As such, the Coalition Avenir Québec's controversial policy of state secularism will apply to other people in positions of power – teachers, judges and police – but not to politicians working in the aura of the crucifix of the National Assembly.
"In our past, we had Protestants and Catholics," Legault said Thursday. "They built the values we have in Quebec. We must recognize this and not mix it up with religious symbols. "
For Émilie Nicolas, co-founder of Québec Inclusif, it is "the return to the future".
"I do not want to have the same arguments anymore. Maybe we should just boycott this conversation, "she said.
Five years ago, Prime Minister Pauline Marois' Charter of Values dominated public debate and created a sense of urgency that the right to freedom of religion – particularly the most visible Muslim religion – would be trampled, said Nicolas.
Nurses and teachers feared losing their jobs if they continued to wear the hijab. (In Quebec City, at the time, no police officer or judge was wearing the hijab and there are not any anymore.)
But Marois felt that the crucifix, hanging over the seat of the Speaker of the National Assembly since 1936, was part of our heritage and was not a symbol of religion.
She was defeated with the Values Charter during a quick election.
The CAQ has created the same sense of urgency today, said Nicolas, at least in Montreal, where about 3,000 people came on Sunday to protest the new government's intention to ban public sector to wear religious symbols.
Legault suggested that it could allow people already on the job to continue wearing hijabs, kippahs or turbans. But he also stated that he was ready to invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to circumvent the Charter of Rights and advance his legislation in the National Assembly – under the watchful gaze of Jesus on the cross.
"I grew up praying at school in the morning," said Nicholas. "But you do not have to be Catholic to understand that it's wrong."
She said that the whole discussion, she repeats, forces people to fight for the status quo, instead of going forward on human rights issues and to combat systemic racism and racial profiling, for example.
But one thing has changed in the five years between Marois' Charter of Values and Legault's secular policy: the reaction of civil society.
Some school boards and CEGEPs have already suggested not to apply the religious symbols policy, she said.
Mayor Valérie Plante said she did not intend to remove the crucifix at City Hall, nor to force municipal workers to stop wearing religious symbols.
As for the Catholic bishops, they have not changed their minds either.
"We thought we were at peace for a while, even though we expected the discussion to resume if the CAQ was elected," said Germain Tremblay, lay deputy to the Secretary General of the Quebec Assembly of Bishops. spokesman for the organization. .
"Our position has not changed. For us, the crucifix is not simply an object of inheritance, it is a sacred religious object that should appear in the churches or residences of Catholics. It is a symbol of hope in the resurrection and remind the faithful that there is life after death. "
Tremblay stated that it was Maurice Duplessis who had placed the crucifix in the National Assembly to show the complicity between the Church and the State. (Duplessis was very opposed to secularism.)
"Now, in 2018, if Mr. Legault awaits the support of the Catholic Church, he will be disappointed … Politicians have placed the crucifix here, it is up to them to decide what to do next," he said. Tremblay. "I think we have better things to discuss."
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