If we want students to get politically involved, our politicians better treat them properly.
Leading up to the April 7 Quebec election, the opposite has happened.
On March 19, democratic institutions minister Bernard Drainville, the architect of the Parti Québécois’s proposed Charter of Values that would ban public employees from wearing religious garb, told a radio show that the legislation would extend to students wearing face coverings on campus.
The Quebec charter is outrageous to begin with, violating the basic protection of freedom of religion by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
But to extend it to students goes another step too far in limiting the diversity of our country, which should be celebrated, not suppressed.
Meanwhile, some students say they have been denied when registering to vote in the election. So far, voting requirements have been vague.
One PQ candidate said the party wants to “make sure it’s Quebecers who choose their government” so the election “is not being decided by people from the rest of Canada.”
Out-of-province students are unlikely to vote for the PQ, and the party is trying to make sure they don’t get the chance.
For a party that framed itself as the choice for students following mass tuition protests against the former Liberal government in 2012, the PQ sure has turned against such an important demographic.
It’s time for Premier Pauline Marois and her party to treat young voters with the dignity and respect they deserve as contributing members of Quebec society.
