Depuis la Révolution tranquille, la province de Québec est devenue de plus en plus hostile aux manifestations de croyances religieuses et d’appartenances confessionnelles. Des arrêts marquants de la Cour suprême concernant la « neutralité religieuse » de l'État et le programme obligatoire d'éthique et de culture religieuse au secondaire sont issues de dossiers québécois. Cette tendance a culminé récemment avec le projet de loi 21 sur la laïcité de l'État, qui interdit les symboles religieux visibles dans de larges pans de la fonction publique provinciale. La Cour supérieure du Québec a confirmé la validité de la plupart des articles de la Loi (maintenant en vigueur) en raison de la clause dérogatoire qui y est insérée ; l'affaire est maintenant devant la Cour d'appel.

The province of Québec has become increasingly hostile to displays of religious belief and affiliation. Major Supreme Court rulings respecting the "religious neutrality" (or “laicity”) of the State and mandatory ethics/religious culture programs in schools have reinforced this hostility. This trend culminated recently in Bill 21, which bans ostensible religious symbols from the provincial public service. In this conversation, we explore the legal and philosophical issues surrounding Bill 21 and other high-profile Court cases. We also explore Québec’s growing intolerance to Christianity, the central role of the Catholic church in the history of French Canada, and the impact of recent scandals and class-action lawsuits on public discourse today.

This conversation will empower you to understand the place of religious symbols in public spaces and the state of freedom of expression in Québec and beyond.

Direct democracy was born on the Pnyx Hill of Athens. The indirect (or representative) democracies with which we are most familiar were born in Rome and were developed further by (e.g.) major western powers. By now, “Democracy” is a commonplace idea, but a closer inspection of it raises unfamiliar questions. What is democracy? Why is democracy desirable? Why choose democracy over other methods of collective decision-making, e.g., oligarchy or dictatorship? What obligations do democracies generate for their members? When can democratic authority be reasonably questioned? How can we resolve any tensions between democratic authority and minority equality?

We explore these questions within and beyond the Canadian context. We investigate pressures on our democracy from Canadian governments and foreign powers, and we explore what the Charter says about democratic rights.  This conversation will empower you to understand the “remarkable idea” of democracy and how that idea can disappear without invested citizens.