Religion, Education and Extremism: Quebec, Canada

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Religion, Education, Security, and Understanding

Proposal

Historically speaking, French colonization (1608- 1760), the British conquest (1760- 1867) and the Confederation of Canada (1867- present) all contributed to the formation of the unique Quebec identity within Canada. After the British conquest in 1763, the French Catholic Church resisted all attempts by the British to claim full authority for education. With the advent of the British North American Act of 1867, education came under provincial jurisdiction and the Catholics, and the Protestants were granted the right to their confessional schools. During the Quiet Revolution, the rapid secularization (laïcité) movement in Quebec in the 1960s, the Catholic Church lost its dominance in Quebec. In the following decades, the province opened its door to French-speaking Muslim immigrants from the former French colonies in North Africa, adding complexity to the religious landscape of the province striving for laïcité. Amidst this reality, Parti Quebecois tried, although in vain, to introduce Bill 62 in 2013 to ban wearing religious symbols from public spaces. In 2019 Coalition Avenir Québec passed a similar bill, prohibiting all public sector workers from wearing religious symbols, which is seen by many as targeting religious minorities, especially Muslims (Kwok, 2022).

During the same period, Quebec witnessed an increasing number of religious and right-wing extremist incidents, including several Muslim students joining ISIS in 2014 and the Quebec Mosque attack in 2017 that cost six lives. Some speculate that the above-mentioned controversial legislation may be fueling extremism against Muslims in Quebec (Rubertucci, 2022).

In 2008 the Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program was formally introduced as the result of increasing religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity in Quebec society (Ghosh 2018; Morris 2011). It took the place of the previous confessional and moral education curricula (Boudreau 2011). The program aims to promote “the recognition of others” and “pursuit of the common good,” and focuses on cultivating three competencies such as the ability to “reflect on ethical questions,” “demonstrate an understanding of the phenomenon of religion,” and “engage in dialogue.” It prioritizes Quebec heritage, giving special attention to Catholicism and Protestantism, and to a lesser extent to Judaism, and Native spirituality. Many other religions are also given space (MELS, 2008).

Although seen as controversial, the ERC Program has been well supported by many thanks to its highly inclusive and equitable vision and approaches (Dhali et al, 2022; Tremblay, 2019). Yet in 2020 the Quebec Education Minister suggested the revision of the Program, removing its ‘too much emphasis on religion” (CBC News, 2021). The Minister also declared that the program was outdated or “aged poorly,” while the province was facing various new ethical issues and challenges (Schwartz, 2021). The new course titled Culture and Citizenship in Quebec, which retains the dialogue competency, will be fully implemented in 2024. Based on relevant literature, this paper suggests that abolishing the religious literacy component is not a positive move toward combatting violent extremism which can be motivated by religious or anti-religious ideologies. To make young people cognitively more resistant to violent extremism, a strong competency in diverse religious matters must always be fostered.

Author

• Maihemuti Dilimulati, McGill University