Author: Peter Wheeland

(On 18 October 2017, the provincial legislature of Quebec, the National Assembly, passed Bill 62, a law that prohibits “the wearing of face coverings for people giving or receiving a service from the state..” Specifically, the new law allows the provincial government, and providers of government services, from medical care to public transportation, to deny services to veiled Muslim women. This is only the latest episode in a longstanding campaign by Quebec’s political leaders to enforce a policy of public secularism. Peter Wheeland, a veteran Montreal-based journalist, has been following the issue. This article originally appeared in Cult Montreal.) A...