August 28,2025
RED FM News Desk
The Quebec government plans to introduce a bill that would ban public prayer.
Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge said Thursday that the “rise of street prayer is a serious and sensitive issue.”
“The premier has tasked me with strengthening secularism, and I am committed to carrying out this mandate,” Roberge stated. “This fall, we will introduce legislation to reinforce Quebec’s secularism, including a ban on street prayers.”
This move follows months of efforts by the Coalition Avenir Québec government to tighten secularism laws, such as requiring immigrants to adopt Quebec’s common culture and expanding the province’s religious symbols law to cover school support staff.
Roberge’s statement did not specify how the ban would be enforced, but Premier François Legault has previously said he would not rule out invoking the notwithstanding clause. In December, Legault stated, “Seeing people praying in the streets or in public parks is not something we want in Quebec. When we want to pray, we go to a church or a mosque, not in public spaces. And yes, we will explore all legal avenues.”
The announcement comes just days after an advisory committee recommended extending Bill 21, Quebec’s secularism law, to prohibit early childhood educators in subsidized daycare centres from wearing religious symbols.
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