concordia faculty for religious freedom

Charter of Values petition

Dear Colleague,

The following letter has been mailed to Minister B. Drainville today with the accompanying list of petitioners regarding the 'Charter of values'  For your information only.

October 22, 2013

Hon. Bernard Drainville,

Secrétariat aux institutions
démocratiques et à la participation citoyenne
875, Grande Allée Est
5^e étage
Bureau 5.725
Québec (Québec)  G1R 4Y8

Dear Minister Drainville,

Attached, please find a list of 150 faculty members at Concordia University who have lent their signatures to a petition that reads as follows:

“We, the undersigned full-time faculty members at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, do hereby petition the Quebec government to withdraw its proposed legislation for a so-called 'Charter of Quebec values'.  This proposed law would discriminate against those who wear religiously significant attire in public places of work and it identifies university personnel as falling under its purview. Therefore, we reject this proposed law in its entirety. We reject the specific targeting of university personnel since such a legal provision would constitute a legislated form of discrimination that would infringe upon the independence of university faculty members, our personal freedom and the rights of those of us who affiliate with particular religious traditions as well as the terms of employment contained in our contract with the university.

We affirm that agencies of the state and public institutions such as universities should embody tolerance toward all members of our diverse society. We benefit when public employees exercise good judgment rather than an allegiance to an artificial concept of neutrality. Regardless of our religious affiliation or none, we welcome those whose religious beliefs and practices constitute the basic motivation for their contributions toward the good of our university and thereby to Quebec society."

The petition itself is available for public viewing at the following website: http://www.petitions24.com/concordia_faculty_for_religious_freedom

This letter therefore constitutes our communication of this public petition to you, a response that has been solicited from the government in its public communications of recent weeks. As you know, Concordia University is a public institution of post-secondary education in Montréal with over 30,000 students of diverse religious backgrounds. As faculty members, we want to underline our recognition of diversity that is both in our midst and which characterizes ourselves as well, a corps of faculty members who teach and conduct scholarly research. It is through this petition that we indicate our steadfast opposition to the proposed legislation that falls under the ‘Charter of Values’ label, since it hinders the educational objectives of our university through the legislation and legitimation of discriminatory practices.

Sincerely yours,

Paul Allen (Dr.)

Cc:

Dr. Alan Shepard, President, Concordia University

Dr. Lucie Lequin, President, Concordia University Faculty Association

Dr. Joanne Locke, Dean Faculty of Arts and Science

Dr. Steve Harvey, Dean, John Molson School of Business

Dr. Catherine Wild, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts

Dr. Christopher Trueman, Interim Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science

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