Kirkland is the latest West Island municipality to table a resolution expressing opposition to Bill 60, the Parti Québécois minority government’s proposed charter of values.
Mayor Michel Gibson said the town’s opposition to the charter is based on the principle that it infringes on rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. The resolution tabled Monday states the town will not initiate disciplinary action against an employee in regard to the proposed charter, if it is ever enacted.
“We’re ready to not respect it in the sense that if we have two good candidates (vying for a staff position), one is better than the other but he wears a religious sign, honestly, I don’t give a damn,” he told The Gazette. “Our position is like many other cities; we’re taking a stance. We’re hoping it will be defeated in the higher courts if ever adopted.”
Beaconsfield tabled its own resolution last month, while Baie-d’Urfé, Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pointe-Claire councils did so in October.
Pointe-Claire stated it will use any legal means available to contest it and it vows it will never terminate or punish an employee for wearing religious clothing irrespective of the charter’s adoption.
The Association of Suburban Municipalities, which represents 15 reconstituted municipalities in Montreal, expressed its opposition to the charter in September, stating the plan “reveals a conscious denial of the multicultural reality of Montreal and will only lead to division and exclusion.”
The group plans to present a brief at upcoming public hearings at the legislature.