Experts: Does Quebec's secularism law speak to the younger generation?

Researchers from McGill and Concordia universities have teamed up to examine how Quebec's secularism law, Law 21, is affecting the career choices and experiences of discrimination of students, particularly in the province's faculties of law and education. The law, which bans some public servants, including teachers in the public system and prosecutors, from wearing religious symbols at work, was implemented in June 2019. The researchers sent out an on-line bilingual survey between mid-October 2020 and early November 2021 and invited volunteers to send in written comments as well as survey responses.

51% of students surveyed indicated that they would look for work outside Quebec because of Law 21. The results raise the possibility of a generation gap in Quebec between the older generation, who are informed by a particular set of historical experiences, and the younger people who are the teachers and lawyers of tomorrow. 

Here are two experts who can provide comment on this issue:

Elizabeth Elbourne, Associate Professor, Department of History and Classical Studies

“We noticed many students shared their deep distress at witnessing the impact of the Law’s passage on their classmates, family members, friends and fellow students. A number of students in Education left comments indicating that they were unwilling to teach in Quebec because of Law 21, despite not being directly personally affected.”

Elizabeth Elbourne is an Associate Professor in McGill University’s Department of History and Classical Studies. She is a historian of religion, colonialism, gender, and human rights.  She became interested in the project both because it dovetailed with her historical interests and because she wanted to explore some of the wider issues around this complex question.  

elizabeth.elbourne [at] mcgill.ca (English, French)

Kimberley Manning, Associate Professor, Departement of Political Science, Concordia University

“If we think of students as largely young people, these findings suggest a lack of support by youth, particularly in Montreal. This raises the possibility of a generational gap concerning attitudes toward Law 21 that is deserving of further research and attention by lawmakers.”

Kimberley Manning is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Concordia University and the former principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute. She became interested in the project as she witnessed the impact of the Law on friends and colleagues. If professionals in education and law were struggling under the law, how were program students faring?

kimberley.manning [at] concordia.ca (English)