Thousands march against new religious restrictions

Thousands of Montrealers took to the streets on Saturday afternoon to show their disdain at the proposed legislation to ban religious symbols.

The Link newspaper reports that roughly 40 000 took to the streets and marched from Place Emilie-Gamelin to Place du Canada.

The P.Q. has stated that the charter is a way to preserve religious neutrality of public institutions and equality between the sexes.

This statement has been met with objections by the Centre for Gender Advocacy. They explain that the charter shouldn’t tell Muslim women how to express their faith.

If passed, the charter would ban public sector workers from wearing religious symbols, such as turbans, hijabs, niqabs, kippas and large crosses. It would not affect the cross on top of Mount Royal and the crucifix in the National Assembly as the P.Q. say are part of the province’s heritage.

An online petition opposing the charter has collected over 10 000 signatures to date.