If only the author of "In My Country" could take over the helms of Canada, If Only !

The far-sighted author of "In My Country" attended the Quebec Values Charter hearings yesterday and the wise one had his say, bluntly and fearlessly.

Philip Authier writing at MongrealGazette:
Hérouxville’s André Drouin   delivers warning at charter hearings.  His message was bluntly worded and direct: get moving on ridding Quebec of religious accommodations or face the perils other countries have.
André Drouin, the former Hérouxville city councillor who became an international figure in his battle for secularism, made an appearance Wednesday at the committee examining Bill 60.

He has not changed a bit.

Off the top, the veteran of several commissions on the issue including Bouchard-Taylor put MNAs of all stripes in their place, saying he's heard all the arguments — pro and con — before.
"There are no more guidelines today then there were seven years ago," Drouin, wearing his trademark checkered shirted, told a hushed room.
"We are spinning in circles and the more we spin the deeper the hole gets and we can no longer get out. It's not too late. It's not too deep.
"I have the impression our elected officials are scared to take a stand, to say, my man or woman, put your beliefs aside for six or eight hours a day and the other seven hours you can practise.......

......He urged the province to make sure — through the ban — that people can no longer guess what faith a person has by looking at them.
"But in your living room the evening, if you want to burn candles burn them, put on a burka put it on ... do it. But during work hours you follow the norms and regulations.".......

.......He said he sees a lot of his famous Hérouxville declaration in Bill 60 and that's a good thing.

Drouin made worldwide headlines in 2007 when, in his then role as city councillor, he had the city of 1,300 with virtually no immigrants adopt a code of conduct for minorities......

....Earlier, a union group with close ties to the Parti Québécois sparked a thunderstorm when it launched a blistering attack against Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir accusing him of condoning the segregation of men and women in mosques.



The Syndicalistes et progressistes pour un Québec libre (SPQ-Libre) tabled a copy of a photo of Khadir attending a rally of a Muslim association.
Taken in 2012 just before the provincial election, Kadir is seen sitting in the men's only section of the rally while the women at the rally, veiled, sit on the other side.
There is no wall or curtain between the group. The event took place near a mosque, the Centre communautaire musulman de Montréal, in Montreal North.
"The photo says it all," SPQ-Libre administrator Louise Mailloux told the committee. "What you need to understand is that Amir Khadir condones such a rally.
"Amir Khadir condones the segregation of the sexes......