Secular 'values' charter backers, critics clash at hearings

The second day of public consultations onQuebecs Bill 60 is hearing from a range of voices in support of and against the controversial secular charter.

The hearing Wednesday morning started withMartin Laperrire, an independent citizenwho said the province is already secular, and who argued that the charter is going too far and that it'sunconstitutional.

Laperrire was followed byFernand Morin,a retired lawyer and law professor at Universit Laval.

Morin, who is also against the charter, said the legislation legitimizes intolerance amongQuebecersand conflicts with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The third speaker was Michelle Blanc, an advocate for thelesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

Blanc, who is transgender,has been an outspoken proponent of secularism asa blogger and a member of Les Janettes a pro-charter group founded by author, radio and TV personalityJanette Bertrand.

Blanc saidBill 60 doesn't go far enough. She described being spit on in the streets of Montreal bywomen wearing veils because she belongs to theLGBT community.

Pauline Marois denies plans to call an election

With more than 200 hours of testimony still to get through, there are many who feel an election could also bring an early end to the hearings and see Bill 60 debated on the campaign trail instead.

The province's two major opposition parties have made it clear theywill vote against the provincial budget,which would topple theminority governmentand trigger an election.

But Premier Pauline Maroissaid thePartiQubcoisdoesn't want to go to the polls over the proposed legislation.

"If they decide to bring us down and the charter hasn't been passed, one of the consequences will be that it becomes an election issue," said BernardDrainville,the minister responsible for Bill 60.

No major changes to Bill 60

Marois and Drainvillebothreiterated Tuesdaythat the hearings will not lead to any substantivealterations of Bill 60.

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Marois said outside the hearings that the ban on religious symbolsis essential to Bill 60 and will remain.

"It's a basic part of the project," she said.

Drainville said the religious neutrality of the state must be "visible, apparent and concrete."

He also maintained that Bill 60 is a moderate document that offers made-in-Quebec secularism.

"It's a bill for Quebecers that reflects what we are as a society," he said.

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It remains unclear how the legislation would be enforced, if passed. Drainville continues to duckquestions about whether government employees would lose their jobs if they wearreligious symbols.

"If a person refused to take off the religious sign, they would be confirming they are putting their religion above everything else, above the common interest and above the law," he said.

The PQ government argues the charter would shield the province from what it describes as encroaching fundamentalism, and says it would provide protection against gender discrimination.