Interculturalism in Quebec at a crossroads. From the crisis of reasonable accommodation to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission.

Authors

  • MIREN GORROTXATEGI AZURMENDI

Keywords:

interculturalism, reasonable accommodations, integration, Quebec.

Abstract

Reasonable accommodations, which in the framework of multiculturalism allow differential anti-discriminatory treatment in favour of religious minorities, are an important instrument in the ethnocultural integration policy in Canada. However, the fear of excesses in the acceptance of the accommodations, in a context of fear of religious fundamentalism, has triggered an important crisis in Quebec, where the bases of multiculturalism and the protagonism of the law have been questioned. This crisis, which shows the importance that delimiting the meaning of secularism has in our societies, led the Government of Quebec to create the Commission de consultation sur les pratiques d’accommodement reliées aux différences culturelles for the purpose of knowing the in-depth causes of this crisis and to propose solutions to overcome it.

Published

2010-11-30