Well, the Charest Liberals got it right.
The reasonable accommodation law sounds entirely reasonable to me.
Face coverings have no place in the public administration. And that includes schools, cegeps, universities and hospitals. And the law reaffirms the equality of men and women in our society. If you want service, you cannot hide your identity. It is not compatible with our values.
And wisely, the government is not calling for a total ban on religious symbols.
Wearing a cross or a Star of David or a headscarf is acceptable and is faithful to the principles of an open and tolerant liberal democracy.
However, there may be something to the argument that those is the positions of authority such as police and judges should not be allowed to wear the religious symbols in order to ensure perceptions of neutrality.
But overall, finally, some common sense.
In our society, we must be always be willing to face what is right.
Gilles the resister
I have this vision of Gilles Duceppe in a scene from an old black and white movie.
He is wearing a beret sitting in a smoky bar and is passing a secret envelope over to an allied agent played by Humphrey Bogart.
Well, he asked for it.
"We are members of a resistance movement," he proclaimed to his fellow separatist travelers.
Yes Mr. Duceppe, Quebec is like occupied France during the Second World War. Struggling for its freedom against the Canadian oppressor. Give me a break.
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Of course, Mr. Duceppe said it's not really what he meant.
No? When you say, Quote "the sovereignty of Quebec, like the liberation of France would not have been possible or be possible without the work of the Resistance."
C'est clair, non?
By the way, when Mr. Duceppe decides to pack it in and retire from the Bloc, He will be getting a federal pension of $140,000 a year.
And that, I gather, he won't find too difficult to resist.
Bush league
Finally, shame on the University of Ottawa this week for cancelling a speech by American right wing commmentor Ann Coulter.
Students were protesting her visit and the university decided it would be better if she didn't give her talk.
We have something in this country called free speech. It's guaranteed in our Charter of Rights. You don't have to agree with her but a university is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas. Not this one, I guess. She called it bush league and it's hard to disagree with that.
Update: Saturday, March 27, 2010
Initial reports indicated that University of Ottawa administrators cancelled Ann Coulter's speech after a fire alarm was pulled.
Late in the week, Coulter's speaking tour organizer Ezra Levant confirmed that police and Coulter's bodyguard recommended the speech be cancelled.
"The police, and the campus security made an assessment of the situation, and we followed it," Levant said. "Ann Coulter's personal bodyguard... made the obvious call. It's not worth exposing Coulter or the registered guests to the threat of violence."
