Mounting concerns about a new non-denominational religion program to be introduced in Quebec schools next September have prompted the provincial government to reassure parents who fear that Christian values will get lost in the shuffle. "I want to state quite clearly that preponderance will be given to the teaching of Christianity. That reflects our culture and who we are ... and I guarantee you the teaching material will reflect this," Premier Jean Charest told reporters yesterday. "It would be wrong to tell people otherwise."
The new program, called Ethics and Religious Culture, will teach students at the primary and secondary levels the history and values of the 10 major religions practised around the world.
The courses will be mandatory and replace the current program that offers parents a choice of either religious instruction - which in French-language schools often meant Catholicism - or a more general course on moral education.
Canadian Roman Catholic Church Primate Marc Ouellet has urged the government to allow Catholic parents the right to choose between the new non-denominational program and Catholicism.
Some Jewish leaders and some Protestant groups also urged the government to allow parents the freedom to choose what course would be best for their children.
The government has responded by saying that if parents want religion classes, they can seek them outside the regular curriculum at their own expense.
Action démocratique du Québec Leader Mario Dumont defended the case made by Catholic parents, saying that Grade 1 and 2 students will be taught religions that do not reflect their cultural reality.
"With all due respect to other denominations, Easter and Christmas are not equivalent to Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Wesak, Diwali and the birth of Guru Nanak.
"It's just not true that this has the same meaning in the lives, the reality and the traditions of Quebec," Mr. Dumont said yesterday in the National Assembly. The vast majority of people, including the Premier, don't know what these holidays stand for, he said.
Earlier this week, Mr. Dumont accused the government of imposing former prime minister's Pierre Trudeau's vision of multiculturalism on Quebeckers against their will, claiming that Quebec culture would be "just a small vegetable in a big pot of soup.
"He should listen to his profound beliefs and stop this bureaucratic machine that is intoxicating everyone," the ADQ Leader said yesterday in demanding a moratorium on the new program.
After warning Mr. Dumont about promoting intolerance that could "ignite a fire he won't know how to put out," Mr. Charest invited him to present his views before the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation of minorities. The ADQ was the only provincial party that refused to table a brief before the commission.
"I have enough convictions to know not to practise demagoguery on the backs of the children of Quebec," Mr. Charest said in the National Assembly.
Education Minister Michelle Courchesne announced yesterday she will offer parents information sessions throughout the province to explain the program and reassure them that the courses will reflect Quebec's traditional values.
"The Catholic religion constitutes the foundation of our society and it will be taught throughout the year," she said during Question Period.
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