CAQ: time to tame the hijab

I’m weighing how much time and space to give the CAQ, given that the balance of the Quebec government has shifted to the other side of the seesaw from the interests of this city, and we need to keep an eye on that. But I know readers will call me to order if I drift too much, so here goes…

I’m pretty sure the lovely young man tasked with cutting immigration to Quebec and enforcing rules against people wearing religious signifiers – including teachers – is a good place to start. Simon Jolin-Barrette is only 31 and is a lawyer; not too much seems to be known about him. We can only hope he isn’t a shit. Next.

Philosopher Charles Taylor is already condemning the CAQ plan to punish wearers of religious signifiers but François Legault is brushing his views aside.

The CAQ has also appointed a secretary for anglophone affairs, rather than a minister. He’s an MNA from Laval and does not consider himself an anglophone.

If Legault wants to impose French tests to allow people to stay in Quebec, let’s have everyone pass those tests. I’d be willing to bet that a good third of Quebec’s birth francophones would fail the official French test applied to CEGEP students, for example, let alone the exam medical people have to pass. (And if you flunk out? Exile, to New Brunswick or Manitoba? Or mandatory re‑education?)

Legault says he’s too busy to attend the UN conference on climate change in December, being that he’s got to buckle down, identify and fire anyone wearing a hijab or kippa (but not, I’m guessing, a crucifix) – which is so much more important.

China says the sinicisation of Muslims in Xinjiang must continue.