Mark Slapinski

00:00:00.000 These are Muslim values. These are Canadian values.

00:00:05.980 Many large Canadian cities, sort of like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver,

00:00:10.060 have seen their roads closed down and their parks shut off due to the influx of radical Muslims. 1.00

00:00:20.460 One province is pushing back. That's the eastern Canada province of Quebec.

00:00:25.180 They're leading the way.

00:00:26.080 Even the CBC has noticed putting out a full video episode on the matter.

00:00:30.520 Today we're going to take a look at that, then stick around to the end for some commentary.

00:00:34.220 For the past 20 years, one issue has consistently dominated the political agenda in Quebec.

00:00:40.460 It's not language. It's not even separatism. It's secularism.

00:00:44.660 There's a pattern that keeps repeating itself.

00:00:47.200 Reaffirm our commitment towards religious neutrality.

00:00:50.380 A large majority of Québécois want to禁止 the religious signs.

00:00:54.500 Religion, I don't think, should be there. 1.00

00:00:57.040 Politicians portray religion and religious symbols as a threat.

00:01:01.700 They then come up with increasingly restrictive rules to counter that threat.

00:01:06.480 And then, an inevitable backlash.

00:01:08.900 And now, it's happening again.

00:01:11.260 We think that the best policy to integrate and to include everyone is to have a school where there's no religion.

00:01:30.420 Religion should be kept in temples. 1.00

00:01:32.200 What you're seeing now is a competition between the two nationalist parties to see who is willing to go furthest in passing illiberal policies to make it more and more difficult for minorities to choose to be different.

00:01:46.060 The antagonism that the Quebec government is creating within the Muslim population is not healthy.

00:01:54.400 Not healthy at all.

00:01:55.680 Why does this cycle keep repeating itself?

00:01:58.720 To understand, we have to go back in time.

00:02:00.900 Before we go any further, I want to point out my videos aren't getting as much traction as they normally do.

00:02:05.280 If you see this part, don't forget to like and subscribe.

00:02:08.140 And let me know if you saw this in the comment section.

00:02:10.440 I'm doing a test.

00:02:11.620 All right, let's get back to the action.

00:02:13.100 In the 1940s and 50s, the Catholic Church had huge influence in Quebec, running schools and hospitals and dictating a lot of moral standards.

00:02:24.920 In the 60s, Quebecers pushed back with the Quiet Revolution.

00:02:28.940 The government gradually assumed control of health and education, and the church's influence gradually waned as Quebec modernized.

00:02:37.280 The question of secularism seemed settled.

00:02:40.080 But then...

00:02:41.100 A second wave in the battle over secularism in Quebec essentially began on September 11, 2001.

00:02:49.860 The problem was no longer the Catholic Church.

00:02:52.320 Now, it was Islamic extremism. 0.99

00:02:55.120 And in the years that followed, there was a kind of frenzy in Quebec.

00:02:59.380 A small town tried to adopt a bizarre code of conduct targeting Muslims.

00:03:03.820 And there were shock headlines about various reasonable accommodations for religious groups.

00:03:09.780 There was a public inquiry, recommendations, and various proposed laws.

00:03:14.920 The one that finally stuck was the CAQ's Bill 21.

00:03:18.680 That law prevents certain civil servants, including judges, prosecutors, police, and teachers, from wearing religious symbols while at work.

00:03:27.340 And while the bill is being challenged before the Supreme Court of Canada, when Bill 21 passed, Francois Legault said essentially the question of secularism in Quebec had been settled, and now we could all move on.

00:03:39.900 Of course, that hasn't happened.

00:03:41.900 The controversy over an elementary school in Montreal reignited the debate.

00:03:48.060 A government investigation found that a group of mostly Muslim teachers had created a toxic work environment at Bedford Elementary School. 0.99

00:03:56.660 Among other things, the group dissuaded girls from playing soccer, avoided teaching sex ed, and sometimes prayed or spoke Arabic in class.

00:04:07.080 Now, many note that the school administration was well aware of these problems for years but failed to act.

00:04:13.080 But despite that, the CAQ said new, tougher rules were necessary.

00:04:18.600 The education minister introduced new legislation that would extend the ban on religious symbols to include not just teachers, but all school staff, including lunch and after-school monitors, even volunteers.

00:04:31.260 And that still wasn't enough.

00:04:33.280 Now the premier says he'll introduce legislation banning prayer anywhere in public.

00:04:38.420 And it's not just the CAQ, the PQ, which leads in the polls and supports most of this stuff, also wants to ban elementary school students from wearing religious symbols.

00:04:53.860 Why is this the issue that never goes away in Quebec?

00:04:58.400 Some say it's connected to that history.

00:05:00.640 They lived it in the Catholic Church for years, for decades, not to say centuries, and decided that they didn't want it to be brought into other religious groups.

00:05:14.520 Others say it's also connected to Quebecers' pride in their own unique identity.

00:05:18.640 People have to realize that there's a very, very important consensus on this in Quebec, and that Quebec shows, again, it's a distinct society, as some people would like to continue to coin it.

00:05:33.060 It's true Quebec's brand of secularism is different.

00:05:36.660 Perhaps secularism isn't even the right word.

00:05:39.680 It's no longer about secularism in the way that it's understood by the Supreme Court of Canada and in the rest of Canada, I would argue.

00:05:47.720 I think it's become this much more muscular idea, in French, laïcité, an English term, which I'm not sure is a word, but laïcité, in Quebec, which I think has a very different flavor and a very different understanding of what's going on.

00:06:05.760 Laïcité is about more than just separating church and state.

00:06:09.540 It's really about separating religion from the public sphere. 0.51

00:06:13.520 There's this belief or this perception that once you wear your religious symbol as a start, whether it be the hijab, anything, any scarf, cross, kippah, star game, anything, you are sending a message, and you are somehow indirectly influencing people who are easily influenced.

00:06:33.260 Some people feel the enthusiasm for secularism or laïcité or whatever you want to call it in Quebec isn't really about protecting Quebecers and Quebec values.

00:06:47.980 The motivation for Bill 21 was never actually to come to some sort of a societal compromise.

00:06:54.240 The goal was always to get votes.

00:06:56.100 Secularism can be a political tool with many uses, almost like a political Swiss army knife.

00:07:03.340 You can use it as a temperature gauge.

00:07:05.800 You throw it out there, and as soon as any press release comes out, you know the poll is being done the next day.

00:07:11.940 And because they're seeing, what are people saying about this?

00:07:14.600 Politicians also use secularism to destabilize opponents.

00:07:18.180 It can really put your opponents on the defensive, because then they have to justify defending policies that may not be that popular.

00:07:28.380 And of course, talking about secularism can be a great way to distract from other, perhaps more pressing, issues.

00:07:35.340 They tried to address the future shortage.

00:07:37.780 They failed, but Bill 21 contributed to that.

00:07:40.340 They've tried to address the cost of living.

00:07:42.520 That hasn't worked.

00:07:43.420 They've tried to address the fact that we're missing doctors and nurses.

00:07:46.660 That hasn't worked out.

00:07:48.100 They've tried to stimulate the economy by attracting foreign investment in key industries.

00:07:53.340 That hasn't worked.

00:07:54.380 What has worked is passing policies to target the rights of minorities. 0.99

00:07:59.300 But for supporters of secularism, the debate really is about much more than just politics.

00:08:05.180 There's always politics involved when you draft bills and have laws adopted.

00:08:11.620 But in this case, you know, there's a really large consensus on this issue.

00:08:17.280 All parties, you know, have agreed to some extent that the principle of secularism is the principle that should be implemented in Quebec.

00:08:26.100 The CAQ has traditionally defended Bill 21 and other secularism measures that suspend constitutional rights as simply reflecting the will of the people.

00:08:35.980 But some argue that the whole reason we have a constitution is to protect minorities from laws, even popular ones, that overreach.

00:08:44.720 Like, what's next?

00:08:46.780 If LGBTQ people become unpopular, are we going to take away their rights?

00:08:50.840 If English-speaking people become unpopular, are we going to take away their rights?

00:08:54.140 If Black people become unpopular, are we going to take away their rights?

00:08:57.200 If immigrants become unpopular, are we going to take away their rights? 0.75

00:09:00.020 We have to decide as a society, are our rights worth more than a popularity contest?

00:09:06.280 Clearly what the government and the PQ are telling us is no.

00:09:10.060 Some experts say using secularism to score political points has its limits and may even backfire.

00:09:17.320 Measures that reinforce secularism may perform well in the polls, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll win votes.

00:09:24.620 Take the PQ's Charter of Values, a precursor to Bill 21 that proposed banning all civil servants from wearing religious symbols.

00:09:33.460 If we go back to 2013-2014, the idea of the Charter of Values was popular with most voters in Quebec, especially among Francophone voters.

00:09:44.600 And yet, when the PQ ran on it, it didn't really work.

00:09:48.400 The PQ lost that election, and Delaire says political parties now could learn from that experience.

00:09:54.760 Those explosive issues, they become very interesting when you want to shake up things, because they have the power to shake up things, but they also have the power to sometimes explode in your hands as well.

00:10:06.740 Even some who support Bill 21 say there may be limits in pushing secularism.

00:10:12.240 Maybe Monsieur Legault will lose points on this at this point, because maybe he is going too far when, for example, he wants to press prayers in the streets.

00:10:20.480 Many Muslim immigrants come to Quebec from Francophone countries, which should make it easier for them to integrate.

00:10:50.480 We were told that we were equals, and that we would be able to contribute to society and benefit from society the same as everybody else.

00:10:57.880 We're turning on the TV, and the people that are supposed to be representing us and our leaders are telling society that we're dangerous, and we don't share their values, and we need to be controlled, and our visibility needs to be hidden, and we need to be tucked away.

00:11:13.080 Some experts even think that by aggressively pushing secularism, Quebec may end up right back where it started before the Quiet Revolution.

00:11:23.820 You know, the Roman Catholic Church and its dominance in Quebec society was a kind of isolation for Quebec, and what is happening now is a use of laïcité and secularism in that more muscular form in Quebec to create a new isolationism for Quebec.

00:11:43.840 That is not the way that you build a modern, vibrant French nation in North America, by taking your most educated and Francophone bastion of immigrants and telling them and passing laws that drive them insane. 1.00

00:12:00.260 This debate isn't going away anytime soon.

00:12:02.900 Bill 21 will be argued before the Supreme Court, and the PQ and the CAQ's secularism proposals will be debated during the election campaign next fall.

00:12:13.260 You know, in France, secularism and the principles, it was implemented in 1905, you know, 120 years ago, and it's, there's still some debate in France, so yeah, it's going to continue in Quebec.

00:12:28.820 Alright, so there's definitely a lot to unpack here. Let's get into it.

00:12:32.240 Now, just to start off, I want to preface this by saying that I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in freedom of expression, and I don't want to sit here and vilify Muslims or tell you that Muslims are bad.

00:12:41.740 I also want to point out that YouTube has rules against hate speech, so I also want to make it really clear that I don't hate Muslims, and I'm not advocating for hatred against Muslims.

00:12:51.540 Let's just get that out of the way.

00:12:53.020 However, what I'm going to do in this episode is talk about politics and Western societal norms.

00:12:57.820 Now, to start off, I really like the fact that Quebec is pushing a secular, non-religious platform.

00:13:03.020 The Canada that I grew up in, and the Canada that I know was secular, and I'd like to see it kept that way. 0.93

00:13:08.640 I'm glad that Quebec is leading that charge.

00:13:11.360 And I'm not going to mince my words.

00:13:12.840 I do truly believe that radical Islam is a danger to Western society. 1.00

00:13:17.020 I don't like it when we have people shutting down parks, blocking roads to do their prayers.

00:13:21.660 That's unacceptable.

00:13:23.080 And sometimes these things can get out of hand, and these people can actually launch attacks on us.

00:13:28.260 Sort of like 9-11 and other attacks.

00:13:30.600 But back to public prayers, we have more than enough mosques in major cities.

00:13:35.020 If people want to practice the religion, they're free to do it in a dedicated religious site, or do it at home.

00:13:41.660 I think that's fair.

00:13:42.780 But they shouldn't be doing it in public, bothering other people, pushing the religions down people's throats. 0.99

00:13:48.120 That's unacceptable, and as Canadians, we should not tolerate that.

00:13:51.680 Now, my thoughts on organized religion, and you may or may not agree with this,

00:13:55.000 is that organized religion, for the most part, has mostly outgrown its usefulness.

00:13:58.760 Yes, it may have had its purpose in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD, but I don't think it's quite as useful or as necessary as it once was.

00:14:07.280 Now, it's funny, because if you look at statistics, most people in Europe and North America are actually moving away from organized religion.

00:14:13.600 However, we're opening our doors or borders to people that come from countries that are very religious.

00:14:18.820 Now, there's nothing necessarily wrong with allowing Muslims to come to Western countries, and I'm not trying to make that argument.

00:14:23.720 But I am saying there is a problem when we're too tolerant, and we're not doing enough to make sure that people from these other countries are assimilating and adopting Western norms.

00:14:33.140 And also, like I was saying earlier, I don't like it when people push the religion onto other people.

00:14:37.820 So that being said, I fully support 100% Quebec moving forward with this law.

00:14:42.800 We can have no prayers in public, and no religious garments while you're holding public office.

00:14:48.220 I think that's fair.

00:14:49.460 And I'd go a step further.

00:14:50.480 I'd actually like to see Pierre Polyev pursue a federal law, something that's akin to what Quebec's doing.

00:14:56.280 Now, if you want to practice religion, that would still be okay under what I'm proposing. 0.95

00:15:00.500 But you do it at home, or you do it at a dedicated religious site.

00:15:04.600 You're not doing it in the middle of traffic.

00:15:06.860 You're not doing it at parks.

00:15:08.480 And people will say, oh, Muslims, these people, they don't do that.

00:15:11.640 Yes, they do.

00:15:12.740 And you could easily look that up online if you don't believe me.

00:15:15.600 Quite frankly, I think Canada has been very accommodating to our Muslim population.

00:15:19.100 Not only do we allow these people to move here, but we also let them build mosques on our land. 1.00

00:15:25.140 Let's flip this around.

00:15:26.620 Let's think about Saudi Arabia.

00:15:28.920 Did they let a group of Europeans go there and start building churches?

00:15:32.500 I don't think so.

00:15:33.580 And another point, and a question we got to ask, is that if these Muslim-majority countries are so great, 0.91

00:15:39.420 if they're so great, then why are people leaving them and coming to Western countries?

00:15:43.200 That would imply that we're doing something right that they aren't.

00:15:47.160 A great example is Saudi Arabia again.

00:15:49.940 They don't even have a criminal code.

00:15:51.720 Did you know that?

00:15:52.700 They don't have a criminal code.

00:15:55.020 Their criminal code is the Quran. 1.00

00:15:57.000 In Western countries, sort of like Canada, we've come a long way from that.

00:16:00.520 We're no longer a country that relies on religious scriptures to determine what's right and what's wrong in a society.

00:16:06.600 That's why we have elections, and that's why we have politicians that pass laws. 0.95

00:16:09.960 If people don't agree with those laws, they're free to vote differently and vote for different politicians that will pass different laws.

00:16:17.640 Those are just my thoughts on the matter.

00:16:19.420 Whether Quebec will succeed in putting forward this law, I don't know.

00:16:23.080 I hope it goes through, but I'm not holding my breath.

00:16:25.480 However, they are setting the stage, and this is sort of a sandbox, so to speak,

00:16:29.640 for this law being passed in the future, possibly by a different provincial government or by the federal government.

00:16:35.380 But once again, I want to reiterate, I don't hate Muslims.

00:16:38.340 I don't want you to hate Muslims, and I'm not advocating for hatred or discrimination against anyone.

00:16:44.460 That's not okay, and conservatives don't need to do that to make a point.

00:16:48.640 However, there are genuine concerns about immigration and the preservation of Western societal norms,

00:16:55.120 and I want to make that very clear.

00:16:56.900 Thanks for tuning in.

00:16:58.280 Have a great night.

00:16:59.400 Talk to you tomorrow.

00:17:00.080 Have a great day.

Radical Muslims LEAVING Quebec Because Of NEW LAW

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