For the ban on religious symbols is in practice a ban on those whose faiths oblige them to wear them: Muslims, Sikhs, Jews. So in addition to the hiring ban, we can expect a revival of the edifying debates over whether members of certain religious minorities should be prohibited from riding the bus, or taking night school, and so on. And, since membership in these religious minorities overlaps heavily with membership in racial minorities, it carries a strong whiff of racial discrimination, as well. This is the very opposite of the “religious neutrality of the state” the bill declares to be its aim. Are the rights of minorities still of concern to us, in whatever part of the country they may live?

Source: National Post March 30, 2019 02:03 UTC