Quebec Introduces Bill To Ban Prayer Rooms On College Campuses

The provincial government of Quebec, led by Premier Francois Legault’s Coalition Avenier Quebec (CAQ), has proposed sweeping new measures that would severely restrict the ability for Muslims to practice their faith in the province.

Bill 9, titled An Act for the reinforcement of laïcité in Quebec, lays out several new measures that aim to prohibit religious practice in the public sphere. While the Act doesn’t single out Islam explicitly, Muslim religious practices are the prime target of this new proposed law.

Among the proposed restrictions in the new law are the banning of public day care workers and even private school workers from wearing religious garments such as the hijab. The secularism law from 2019 had already banned public employees such as teachers, judges and police officers from wearing religious symbols. This law further advances those restrictions. Public institutions would be restricted from offering halal meals exclusively and would be required to offer non-halal options on the menu as well.

Public congregational prayer will also be banned for the first time in Quebec’s history under this new law. Individual prayer or a religious gathering with a permit in a public space would still be allowed. However, permits are said to be handed out on a case-by-case basis if they respect Quebec charter rights, such as the equality of men and women. Depending on how compliance with Quebec’s charter is interpreted, Muslim groups would likely face obstacles in receiving such a permit, considering the separate prayer for men and women in the Islamic tradition. Fines for individuals could go up to $375 and up to $1,125 for groups.

There has been uproar over public prayer in Quebec ever since it became a regular sight in the streets of Montreal over the last two years. These prayers have been happening in the context of weekly pro-Palestine rallies to protest the genocide in Gaza. The rallies usually end with a public prayer for Gaza and garnered headlines when pro-Palestine marchers prayed in front of the Notre-Dame Basilica. There was also backlash when a Muslim group held Eid prayers in a public park last year.

The situation has led the Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge to declare that the “proliferation of street prayer is a serious and sensitive issue”. Furthermore, Premier Legault stated that “Seeing people praying in the streets, in public parks, is not something we want in Quebec,” and added that he wanted to send a “very clear message to Islamists.”

The most extreme measure proposed by Bill 9, however, is the plan to ban prayer rooms on university and college campuses. In defending his proposal, Minister Roberge explained that “Universities are not temple or church,” and argued that Quebec had “gone too far” in accommodating religious practices.

Prayer rooms on campuses are the centre of religious life for Muslim students across the province. They serve not only as a safe space for daily prayers but also as a hub for social programs like chaplaincy services, mental health counselling, and religious education. New students, especially those from abroad, use the prayer room to congregate and build social bonds that help them navigate the complexities of practicing faith in a secular environment.

Pragmatically, the prayer room also ensures that Muslims students, who are required religiously to pray five times a day, are not forced to pray out in the open. Samy Khelifi, president of Concordia’s Muslim Student Association, which hosts the biggest prayer facility on a Quebec campus, warned of students being pushed to pray in hallways: “People won’t stop praying because there’s not a prayer space. What happens to those 5,000 people if they all go pray out on random corners?”

Bill 9 will be subject to parliamentary commission hearings over the coming months; the government hopes to have it passed by next Spring. The provisions outlined in it are the latest in a long series of attacks, led by the CAQ, on the religious rights and liberties of Muslims in Quebec. Disguised in the name of secularism and presented with nationalistic overtones, the legislation is nothing more than an attempt to score political points by capitalizing on xenophobic sentiments in CAQ’s voter base for the upcoming elections.

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