MONTREAL — A survey commissioned by the Quebec government indicates strong support for the prohibition of religious symbols, not only in the public sphere, but also the private one, including schools.

The secretariat of democratic institutions and citizen participation released the results May 22 of the survey conducted by Léger Marketing in March on what Quebecers think of religious accommodation.

A representative sample of 1,506 people over age 18 were polled in March.

Among the chief findings are that 78 per cent of Quebecers think the issue of religious accommodation, which dominated the news during 2007-2008, is still topical.

Almost 60 per cent of respondents believe the wearing of religious symbols should be banned from private schools –  the same response given concerning public schools.

There is a strong linguistic divide: 65 per cent of francophones favoured banning religious symbols from private schools, compared to 36 per cent of anglophones.

If the government decides to adopt legislation on religious accommodation, 60 per cent overall say private schools should not be exempted from its application.

In other general results, only eight per cent consider the status quo to be the best way of dealing with religious accommodation, which a large majority, and especially francophones, view as a problem.

Some 70 per cent regard managing the demands of religious minorities to be a way to protect “Quebec values,” as well as promote “social cohesion and integration.”

A similar number see religious accommodation as costly to taxpayers and detrimental to the functioning of public institutions.

In all cases, there is a sharp contrast between the opinions of francophones and non-francophones.

Fifty-four per cent of respondents favoured banning all religious symbols in public. However, only 36 per cent are opposed to the presence of the crucifix in the National Assembly.

Eighty-three per cent of francophones (55 per cent of anglophones) think employees should not be given religious holidays outside of their regular days off.

Seventy-six per cent of respondents (and 83 per cent of francophones, 44 per cent of anglophones) think hospital patients should not be allowed to demand special meals for religious reasons. A great majority also think a patient cannot demand to be treated by doctor or nurse of the same sex.

Ninety per cent overall are against permitting a customer of a business to demand to be served by a person of the same sex. Eighty-one per cent think that those playing sports should not be able to modify their clothing or equipment for religious reasons.

A solid majority feel it’s unacceptable for such visible religious apparel as kippot, veils or crosses to be worn by police officers, prison guards, judges and security guards.

A slightly smaller majority feel the same way about daycare employees (public or private), school teachers, CEGEP and university professors, doctors, nurses, and provincial and municipal public servants.

There was no question in the survey that clearly indicates whether a difference of opinion exists about Christian and non-Christian symbols. One-third of respondents did say, however, that only certain religious symbols – not specified – should be forbidden in the public service.

More than 60 per cent disagreed that wearing such symbols would lead them to believe that a public employee could not do his or her job with neutrality or impartiality.

Freedom of religion ranked lowest in a list of values or principles, well behind the equality of men and women, preserving Quebec’s identity and culture, and state neutrality.

As for what changes should be made to the status quo vis-à-vis religious accommodation, respondents were fairly evenly divided between the choices of prohibiting all forms of such accommodation, adopting laws differentiating between “reasonable” and “unreasonable” accommodations, and amending the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Quebecers want us to affirm loud and clear Quebec values, and that is what we are going to do,” said Bernard Drainville, minister for democratic institutions and citizen participation.

With the survey’s release, Drainville announced that his department is preparing a “charter of Quebec values,” replacing the “charter of secularism” which the Parti Québécois said during the election campaign last summer would be a top priority if it came to power.

He expects legislation for the revised charter to be tabled this fall.

“Quebecers more than ever want the government to protect and reinforce Quebec values, and, in particular, the equality of women and men and the religious neutrality of our institutions,” Drainville said in a press release.

“The reasonable accommodation crisis of 2007 remains unanswered. Nothing was settled. Today, Quebecers are asking for clear rules to frame religious accommodation requests,” he added.

The complete report on the survey is available at http://www.institutions-democratiques.gouv.qc.ca/laicite-identite/documentation/index.htm.