Montreal’s public transit agency is reminding employees that praying on its property will be prohibited next month due to Quebec’s new secularism law. Bill 9 was adopted in the Quebec legislature on April 2, banning prayer in public places and in public institutions. The bill expands on the previous secularism law, known as Bill 21, which banned public servants in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols at work. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) recently informed its employees about the new law, which takes effect on Sept. 1. “Until now, the STM had made four reflection rooms available to employees for various quiet activities, including prayer, as well as meditation, relaxation, and yoga,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to CTV News. “Effective Sept. 1, however, prayer will no longer be permitted in these rooms or anywhere else on STM facilities and grounds.” The STM said its reflection rooms will remain open for other quiet activities and that information about the new regulation will be posted at the entrance. Shaheen Ashraf, a member of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, called the law “discriminatory” and another example of the Quebec government “antagonizing Muslims.” “I have no idea what they’re distracting us from, but every few days they send these pins and needles to needle us about the prayer. I don’t know why it bothers them, because people can sit in a corner and say their prayers quietly, and people might think they’re meditating, but they will be saying their prayers. So I have no idea why that would be a problem for the government,” Ashraf said Friday in an interview. Civil rights groups and organizations representing the Muslim community have criticized the expansion of Bill 21, but Ashraf said she doesn’t anticipate challenging the prayer ban since the legal challenge to Bill 21 is still before the Supreme Court of Canada. In March, the top court heard arguments about the law from groups including the English Montreal School Board and others, but a final ruling has not yet been rendered by the Supreme Court justices. With files from CTV News’ Matt Grillo
