Portuguese procession went ahead
The Portuguese religious procession went ahead Sunday in the Plateau as it has for many years, in silence – a fact that may have skirted the law against praying in public.
There was also a march against homophobia and transphobia Sunday downtown.
Nicholas 22:17 on 2026-05-17 Permalink
Gotta ban silent prayer by asking everyone what they’re thinking at all times.
PatrickC 22:23 on 2026-05-17 Permalink
The silent procession will be spun as proof that the law works. That the borough’s compliance may have been ironic will not have any shaming effect.
steph 23:06 on 2026-05-17 Permalink
Might be the best way to go about it -no permit but a wink and a nod.
What’s Quebec going to do – send in the SQ?
Joey 05:27 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
It’s really a shame (unless I’ve missed something) that the city’s various religious organizations aren’t jointly encouraging their congregants to collectively advocate against this law – a lot of the reaction to the Portuguese procession understandably emphasizes how the community has been a pillar of the Plateau and city for decades. It does not, it seems, express a lot of solidarity with other religious Montrealers (especially the unstated target of this law, the Muslim community).
This isn’t a criticism of the Portuguese, who have the burden of being one of if not the first major community to be affected by this law, but emphasizing the uniqueness of the Portuguese (or Jewish or whatever) community concedes one of the also unstated ideas underlying this whole nonsense, which is that some communities are to be encouraged, some are to be tolerated, and some are to be, let’s say, discouraged.
azrhey 11:52 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
oh as Portuguese, the community reaction is really gross and one of the reasons I don’t hang there that often besides getting some groceries now and then. The racism and discrimination against the Muslim communities has been outrageous. Like there were people saying they didn’t think the law should apply to Catholics just to those foreign religions and what not.
I got into an argument with other Portuguese locals on a Facebook group and there were a few of us saying that we should show solidarity for all religions if we wanted our stuff to be accepted but we were definitely in the minority. Much shame.
Kate 12:28 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
I’ve seen nothing about a concerted voice among the active religions here, but it’s quite the idea. A single voice to counter the Quebec law. But you know what would likely happen – they’d bicker more among themselves than unify to speak with one voice.
Kate 12:30 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
Some people are still fighting the Crusades, or trying to drive the Saracen out of Al‑Andalus.
Chris 14:21 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
Why would we expect a concerted voice from theists? Many of them think they are absolutely right, and the others are heathens, believing in the wrong god. They are not allies, they are enemies. (Not all of them, obviously; but enough of them that I would not expect any concerted action.)
Joey, regarding your last sentence, it’s not necessarily wrong to treat different communities differently. For an extreme example, if religious community X requires human sacrifice, and religious community Y requires pacifism, shall we treat them the same? Some religions are simply worse than others. I ask you honestly: would you rather a world of strictly interpreted Islam, or a world of strictly interpreted Jainism?
Kate 17:47 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
Chris, the rules of both Islam and Jainism, interpreted strictly, would be harsh if imposed on people, but you miss the subtlety that, here in Canada, nobody is obliged to practise a religion. In fact it’s practically a confessional genre for people to write about how they, as second generation immigrants, began to peel away from the beliefs of their family.
Anyway, that’s neither here nor there for the purpose of this thread.
I would love to see the Catholic Archibishop, the top local clerics from the Anglican and United churches, the most prominent imams and rabbis, whoever is in charge of the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples, all sit together and craft a letter to this Quebec government tearing a piece off them for this repressive and stupid law. And I am a disbeliever myself, but you can no more impose rationalism on an unwilling population than you can religion.
jeather 20:33 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
Remember you are only supposed to say merry Christmas if you are thinking about Santa (who we pretend is not religious) and not Jesus.
And yes, we treat religious communities X and Y the same. Murder is against the law for people in either community; unusual food practices are allowed. Maybe we give both of them parking variances for their specific holidays, or let their children reschedule exams, even though the holidays are different days.
H. John 23:52 on 2026-05-18 Permalink
@Kate My guess is that it went ahead because the provisions in Bill 9 were only passed a little over a month ago, and municipalities are still figuring out how it applies.
Like most bills, provisions at its end set the date(s) that it comes into effect; and parts of the Bill only come into effect September 01.
Silence would not skirt the law. They didn’t forbid “praying”, they forbid “religious practice” (which obviously can include praying).
Here’s the definition they use for religious practice:
“Any action, except the wearing of a religious symbol, that may reasonably constitute, in fact or in appearance, the manifestation of a religious conviction or belief, is a religious practice within the meaning of this section and
section 10.2.”
Joey 07:01 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
One of the minor injustices here is that it’s the municipalities, in this case the Plateau borough, that has to enforce this reactionary law. A lot of the criticism I’ve seen FB from the Portuguese community is directed at the borough, refusing to acknowledge that (a) the borough is bound by the provincial law, and (b) that the Plateau leadership is on the same side as the Portuguese community. A real poison pill from the CAQ…
Kate 11:33 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
Joey, you’re right about that. Cathy Wong was quoted saying she was fine with the procession but, as you say, the bureaucracy is bound to the word of the law.
H. John 14:01 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
My reading of Bill 9 is that a municipality can still authorize a religious procession such as Montreal’s annual Portuguese Catholic procession.
Bill 9 includes:
“RELIGIOUS NEUTRALITY IN THE PUBLIC SPACE
“2. No public road, within the meaning of the third paragraph of section 66
of the Municipal Powers Act (chapter C-47.1), or public park may be used for
the purposes of collective religious practice unless a municipality authorizes,
exceptionally and on a case-by-case basis, such a use in its public domain by
resolution of the municipal council.
So the practical effect appears to be:
jeather 14:57 on 2026-05-19 Permalink
But what does “exceptionally” mean in this context? They need to look at them case by case and decide individually on what merits? If they approve too many would it no longer be exceptionally?
Joey 04:48 on 2026-05-20 Permalink
What happens when one group is consistently granted exceptional approval and another is not? My sense is that bureaucrats will always err on the side of extreme caution, so they would likely refuse to make exceptions as much as possible.