XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   I think he's right.  And the 'rest of Canada' is almost equally split on   
   the issue.  If this was being brought forward by Ontario, rather than   
   the PQ of Quebec, it would have majority support of Canadians.   
   _________________________________________   
   September 13, 2013 -  National Post   
      
      
   Other provinces aren't 'courageous' enough to follow Quebec's lead on   
   values charter: PQ minister   
      
   The only reason other governments haven't fought for secular 'values'   
   charters is because they don't have the guts, Bernard Drainville said   
      
      
   "Unfortunately political representatives of any party have not been too   
   courageous to have this debate," Mr. Drainville, the PQ's minister for   
   democratic institutions, said in an interview with CBC.   
      
   Quebec's government has the public on its side, Mr. Drainville said,   
   pointing to an August Forum Research that found 42% of Canadians   
   supported the idea of restricting public-sector employees from wearing   
   overt religious symbols at work.   
      
   There seems to be little unqualified support for the Parti Québécois'   
   Charter of Quebec values, in its original form unveiled on Tuesday.   
   Some of its nationalist fans feel it doesn't go far enough in cracking   
   down on what they see as religious extremism. And many of its secularist   
   fans are slightly troubled by its intention not to disrupt crucified   
   Jesus's view of the proceedings in Quebec's National Assembly. Among the   
   latter group, if you can believe it, is the Syndicat de la function   
   publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) - a labour union representing   
   42,000 Quebec government employees.   
      
   Meanwhile, former Bloc Quebecois MP Maria Mourani is questioning the   
   entire Quebec sovereignty movement after her party expelled her for   
   criticising the charter.   
      
   While wearing a crucifix, Ms. Mourani announced Friday she's quitting   
   the party and will now sit as an independent.   
      
   "Over the years I have noticed the existence of tension within the   
   independence movement," Ms. Mourani said.   
      
   "But the movement's leaders and its majority were always able to chase   
   away the demons of populist intolerance when it came time to draft   
   policy. Now I'm asking myself if those days are gone."   
      
   Ms. Mourani said she was shocked to be "treated in this manner."   
      
   "All of this was done behind closed doors," she said. "So I was taken   
   aback by it."   
      
   Federal parties have taken a united stance in their views against the   
   charter. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair called the proposal "state-mandated   
   discrimination" while the federal Conservatives appear to be gearing up   
   for a legal fight if the charter passes.   
      
   "Bravo to Maria Mourani for standing up to this divisive proposal,"   
   Justin Trudeau said in a Twitter message Thursday. "…Marois has   
   seriously underestimated Quebecers' respect for each other."   
      
   In an apparent jab at the charter, Conservative Multiculturalism   
   Minister Jason Kenney posted a photo of himself in a Sikh head scarf Friday.   
      
   Groups in Quebec are now seeking ways to stop the charter from passing.   
      
   Over 6,000 citizens signed a four-page petition to protest against the   
   charter. The petition, drawn this week by the group Le Manifeste pour un   
   Quebec inclusif, garnered over 1,600 votes within its first 24 hours.   
      
   Thousands are also expected to gather in the streets of Montreal   
   Saturday in a multicultural protest that will see members of the Muslim,   
   Sikh, Jewish and native communities come together.   
      
   In a news conference Thursday, Adil Charkaoui, the spokesperson for the   
   Quebec Collective Against Islamaphobia, said that the charter   
   "contravenes not only the constitution and Charter of Rights and   
   Freedoms of Quebec and Canada but also international human rights law."   
      
   The charter has its supporters, however.   
      
   On Wednesday, the Syndicat de la function publique et parapublique du   
   Québec, which represents 42,000 public-sector workers, gave a   
   full-throated endorsement of the plan.   
      
   "We're obliged to keep our political opinions to ourselves," union   
   president Lucie Martineau said.   
      
   "We want that extended to our religious opinions."   
   _______________________________________________________________   
      
   Sounds fair to me.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)