Canada in 2014: Separatist issue looms

According to the Quebec government, such legislation would help protect Quebec society from religious extremism. But outside of a few scattered anecdotes (one trumped up controversy, for instance, revolved around the desire of a handful of Sikh children to play soccer while wearing their turbans), the urban regions where immigrants live generally are marked by peaceful co-existence. Indeed, it is only since Quebec introduced its Secular Charter in 2013 that racial and religious tensions have worsened.

The Secularism Charter has alienated the province’s immigrants and religious minorities, many of whom now wonder whether they have a future in Quebec. But for ardent separatists, this isn’t seen as a bad thing: Most newcomers to Canada care little for Quebec’s separatist grievances, and can be expected to vote no in any future referendum. Quebec Premier Pauline Marois’ PQ would likely be happy to see these federalists depart for other jurisdictions – along with the province’s increasingly beleaguered and disenfranchised Anglo minority – thereby leaving Quebec with a more “purified,” French-speaking, pro-sovereigntist Québécois electorate.

It is uncertain whether this gambit will work. Marois commands only a minority government in the provincial legislature, and the future of the Secularism Charter isn’t certain. Polls show support for the Charter, in the abstract, among many Francophones, especially in rural regions. But various municipalities, schools and hospitals already have declared that they will not enforce the Charter, even if it becomes law – thus raising the politically unappetizing possibility of the province having to send its agents into doctors’ offices and classrooms to confront hijab- or yarmulke-wearing public servants.

But one thing is certain: The entire episode has not only upended the social peace in Quebec, it has disgusted many Canadians outside Quebec. For decades, Quebec separatists have sought to convince the world that their worldview and Canada’s is fundamentally incompatible. They may finally have succeeded, albeit in the ugliest manner possible.