QUEBEC - A group of Sikhs was turned away from the Quebec legislature for carrying ceremonial daggers in an incident Tuesday that served as a flashpoint in the province's emotional debate about multiculturalism.
The opposition Parti Quebecois applauded the decision by security guards to refuse entry to the kirpan-carrying Sikhs, with one prominent Pequiste declaring, "Multiculturalism is not a Quebec value."
Four members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada had intended to make a statement about religious tolerance at legislative hearings inside the national assembly.
Instead, the four of them walked away and found themselves at the centre of a complex, long-simmering dispute involving the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its impact on Quebec.
On one side, the province's Liberal government bit its lip and refused to take a position on what had happened. On the other, the PQ applauded the security guards and blamed the Sikhs.
It was a single snapshot of Quebec's ongoing reasonable-accommodations debate, with the government facing a familiar accusation from its more nationalist opponents of weak-kneed buckling to minority pressure.
The PQ has demanded the government go further with its Bill 94, which would deny government services to Muslim women wearing face-coverings. It used Tuesday's incident to illustrate its case the bill should be broadened to include kirpans.
The Pequistes also cited the brouhaha as a reminder that Quebec has never endorsed the 1982 Canadian Constitution, and the charter.
That charter -- specifically designed to protect minorities -- has often been used by Quebec Anglos in court cases to overturn the province's language laws; it was also used in one famous case to defend the rights of kirpan-wearing Sikhs.
Louise Beaudoin, the PQ's designated critic for secularism, noted that the province's politicians have never subscribed to the charter vision -- in fact, many here view it as a threat to Quebec's culture. Quebec is the only province that has never supported the Constitution.
"Multiculturalism is not a Quebec value," Beaudoin told reporters.
"It may be a Canadian one -- but it's not a Quebec one. Even for the (Quebec) Liberal party, because they're talking about interculturalism and it's supposed to not be the same thing.
"And we haven't signed the Constitution of Canada -- neither the Parti Quebecois, nor the Liberal party."
On Tuesday, the members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada were told by legislature security to leave their small, stylized daggers at the door if they wanted to enter. They refused.
The Sikhs said that, while their own religion forbids covering women's faces, they had planned to speak out against Bill 94 anyway, in the name of tolerance for other religions.
They had apparently been warned in advance that they might not be allowed to enter with the daggers. But the Sikhs noted that legislatures in other provinces and in Ottawa had always allowed kirpans -- as had last year's Vancouver Olympic venues, despite heavy security at the Games.
"The national assembly has no written rules or policies regarding the kirpan, and we can't even find out who is making the decision to exclude us," Balpreet Singh, the WSOC's legal counsel, said in a statement.
"The tenets of the Sikh faith also teach us to strive for justice and equality for everyone.
"Freedom of religion may be enshrined in Canada's charter, but that's meaningless unless we all stand up to protect the rights of religious minorities -- especially when we disagree with their beliefs."
The so-called reasonable accommodations debate in Quebec has often focused on Muslim women's face-coverings and where they should be banned.
But the current debate arguably began years ago with a controversy over a boy who wasn't allowed to wear his kirpan at school.
In that case, the Supreme Court of Canada eventually ruled 8-0 that a total ban of the kirpan in schools violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it infringed on religious freedom. However, in that same 2006 decision, the court also allowed school boards to impose some restrictions in the name of public safety.
That decision and, to a greater extent, court decisions on language are often cited here as examples of how the charter is a threat to the Quebecois identity.
A notable example was the high court's recent decision to strike down a language law that limited the number of immigrant children who could attend English school.
Nationalist commentators have, during Quebec's ongoing debate, also accused the Charter of Rights of ramming excessive political correctness down Quebecers' throats.
The PQ has increasingly championed such "identity" themes under its new leader, Pauline Marois. On Tuesday, the party expressed little sympathy for the spurned visitors.
"They could make a little bit of an effort, frankly," Beaudoin said.
"I think a lot of the onus is being placed on us, telling us how we have to accept this and that. It seems to me a different question should be asked and it should be asked of the people who absolutely insist on wearing either the burqa or the niqab, or the kirpan in the national assembly."
Beaudoin drew parallels between Tuesday's event and a recent headline-grabbing case involving a Muslim woman who repeatedly refused requests to uncover her face, and was subsequently expelled from her adult French classes.
Beaudoin said Tuesday's incident proved the government didn't go far enough with its Bill 94 -- because it focused only on face-coverings and failed to include things like the kirpan.
The governing Liberals have been less eager to take up the issue. The party, which depends on support from various ethnic communities, introduced the current accommodations bill only after many months of political pressure.
In discussing Tuesday's incident, Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil referred cautiously to "pluralism" and "openness" as key values within Quebec society.
As for the security that barred the visitors, Weil avoided taking a position and said, "each institution has its rules. The airports, courthouses are all dealing with these kinds of questions." She added she would still read the brief the Sikh organization had prepared for the hearing.
Legislature officials say the group of Sikh visitors had informed them a day earlier of their intention to bring the kirpans and were duly warned they would not be allowed on the premises.
A similar situation last year resulted in a different outcome.
Last February, a group of about 20 Sikhs visiting the assembly had agreed to leave their daggers at the door. One member of the group left his larger dagger behind and continued wearing a tinier one, and was subsequently escorted around the building by security.
