Letters: Teachers, let’s push back on request to ‘self-declare’ religious symbols
I was recently sitting in the staff room at school enjoying banter with colleagues and doing final preparations before going to teach my Secondary 3 students when I opened my emails to see that our principal had sent a message to all staff — business as usual, I supposed.
When I opened the email, I realized that, sadly, I was wrong.
She wrote to us about a “few changes” that the school board must implement — namely that — because of the adoption of Bill 94 — school administrators were to collect a “short self-declaration form” from colleagues who wear religious symbols.
She added that “no action is required” if that is not our situation. Later in the email, she thanked us for our usual collaboration.
First, I was struck by equating this “self-declaration” on the wearing of religious symbols to simply being a “few changes” — as if it were a banal request, like informing the school board of a change of address or submitting a reimbursement claim.
I was then struck by the apparent blind willingness to forward the government’s request, and I wondered if she, other principals or anyone at any level in our school board actively challenged this disturbing demand.
I was hoping no colleagues would comply.
I’ve heard the argument that because most Quebecers are said to support Bill 21 and now Bill 94, the rest of us have nothing to say — the “majority rules” logic. But just because the majority agrees with an idea doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created after the Second World War for this explicit purpose — to protect the rights of minorities should a large portion of society impose their values on minority groups.
So, I invite us all — educators and community members alike — to reflect carefully on the ramifications of the government’s troubling agenda and speak out against it.
The request to “self-declare” was presented to school staff as a simple, harmless administrative task, but the truth is that there is nothing trivial about it.
That is precisely why it is our civic duty to remain vigilant, to defend basic human rights, and to challenge the Quebec government’s discriminatory laws.
Meg McDonald , Quebec City
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