: A letter writer highlights the fundamental difference between the Québécois view on rights compared with the rest of Canada.
In Quebec, as in France, collective rights are seen as needing protection from individuals seeking to erode them. In English Canada, individual rights are seen as needing protection from the tyranny of the majority. As a Quaker, I know a little something about persecution from the majority or those in power. Yet, I tend to agree with English Canada.Despite also being old-stock Québécois, I still have trouble understanding what threat is feared by some Québécois.
The province dislodged the stranglehold of Catholicism that I experienced growing up in Montreal years ago. Today, opposition to Bill 21 seems to be a reactionary response to Quebec’s continued progress toward critical thinking and logic. The concerted effort to undermine the bill also disregards the fact that a majority of Quebeckers support the bill.