Constitutional (Mis)Adventures: Revisiting Quebec's Proposed Charter of Values

Abstract

This article engages with the Charter affirming the values of State secularism and religious neutrality and of equality between women and men, and providing a framework for accommodation requests (known as Bill 60), as introduced by the Parti Québécois (“PQ”) in November 2013, amid months of speculation and anticipation. In the absence of litigated cases resulting from Bill 60’s actual enactment into law, this article seeks to engage with the constitutional “misadventures” experienced in 2013-2014. By “constitutional”, I refer to Bill 60 — albeit a (potential) piece of provincial legislation — having the power to reshape the basic social contract that Quebecers have with the rest of Canada. I argue that Bill 60 was a constitutional intervention by another name. By “misadventures”, I borrow from the old French origin of this word, mesaventure, or, “to turn out badly”.

This article draws on briefs submitted to the Commission des institutions before the National Assembly and the official report of debates, as well as relevant academic commentary and case law. In Part II, I offer a critical snapshot of Bill 60 in order to understand its scope and its potential implications on a constitutional level. This also includes a background to Bill 60, in terms of past confrontations with religious reasonable accommodation in Quebec. By way of conclusion, this article suggests that Quebec’s constructed role as “outlier” to the RoC, especially in regards to religious reasonable accommodation, is not really as different as is supposed, particularly in light of recent litigation in the rest of Canada.

Ultimately, this article devotes more careful elaboration to accommodation, as conceived in Bill 60, how this would alter the meaning of accommodation under the Quebec Charter, and the resulting tension with the Canadian Charter.

Keywords: Constitutional Law, Canada, Quebec, Charter of values, state secularism, reasonable accommodation, freedom of religion