Canadian Political Science Article Review: Liberalism and Minorities

This report is an article review of "A Tale of Two Liberalisms? Attitudes toward Minority Religious Symbols in Quebec and Canada" published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science. The article explores the complexities of liberalism in the context of Quebec and the rest of Canada, particularly concerning attitudes towards religious symbols. The review analyzes the authors' argument that liberal values may have different attitudinal consequences in Quebec compared to other parts of Canada, especially regarding restrictions on the wearing of religious symbols in public institutions. The review highlights the authors' examination of how proponents of restrictions often frame their support in the language of liberalism, referencing concepts such as "gender equality," "state neutrality," and "freedom of conscience." The review also discusses the findings that holding liberal values is associated with support for restrictions on religious symbols, thereby illustrating the ongoing debate regarding the rights of religious minorities in Canada and Quebec. The review concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding liberalism's influence on attitudes toward religious minorities.

Running head: LIBERALISM
Liberalism
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1Running head: LIBERALISM
Liberalism is one of the well-known political philosophies in the world itself. When
the concept of liberalism is referred to the readers themselves, the readers are of the opinion
that the concept of the liberalism is a political philosophy which is based on the concept of
the equality before the law for the individuals themselves. It is generally known to support
the causes of limited government, individual rights, democracy, secularism and other factors
itself. In the recent times, there have been significant changes in the liberalism which is
maintained to the religious minorities of Quebec and Canada itself. Therefore, the essay will
find out the ways in which the liberalism has changed in these regions itself.
The purpose of this essay is to make a review of the liberalism to the religious
minorities in Canada and Quebec itself.
In the article itself, the authors start the article by stating about the different types of
religious minorities which an individual can find for himself in Canada and in Quebec. The
author them starts discussing the various types of attitudes which have been given to the
minority religious symbols in Quebec and in Canada itself. The author of the article starts the
article by mentioning about the various restrictions which have been imposed by the
Government in The Charter of Quebec values which was introduced in the year 2013 itself.
The article focuses on the various interpretations given by the Charter for restricting people
using the minority religious symbols in Quebec itself. This was mainly done to ensure that
the restrictions can be imposed on the concepts of gender equality, state neutrality and the
freedom of conscience among the people of the region itself. This has led to these claims
being opposed by people in the state who has demanded liberalism towards religious matters
itself.

2Running head: LIBERALISM
“In the fall of 2013, the Parti Québécois government introduced the Charter of Quebec
Values. The Charter proposed to ban public employees from wearing “overt and
conspicuous” (Gionnavetti, 2013) religious symbols.” (248)
The other points which the article talks to the readers is the various ways in which the
liberal values in the state would be able to change the attitude of the people towards the
minority religious symbols. This change in attitude is considered to be very important so that
people from minority religious groups would be able to follow their own religion without
facing much difficulties themselves in the matter itself.
“In Quebec, a number of scholars have argued that either in the wake of 9/11 or due to
increasing concern over demands for religious accommodations by religious minorities,
the “renewed model” of French laïcité that emerged in the early 2000s in the wake of
the Stasi Commission4 has become an inspiration for many Quebec intellectuals and
politicians, following the province’s accommodation crisis (Weinstock, 2007; Koussens
and Amiraux, 2014).” (250)
The examinations which have been carried out by the authors in this case is also a
great method of finding out the areas in which liberalism is effective. The fact that Quebec is
having the most problems in causing restrictions related to the religious minority symbols
itself. Also the information relating to the liberalism in other parts of Canada also informs the
reader about the problems which the followers of minority religious symbols face in the
country itself.
Thus, from the above paragraphs, it can be concluded that the concept of liberalism is
an important concept in itself and it needs to be followed so that the people in all parts of
Canada are able to live peacefully with equal rights in the country itself. Therefore the review

3Running head: LIBERALISM
of this article is considered to be important as it informs the readers about the importance of
liberalism itself.
Reference List
Turgeon, Luc, Antoine Bilodeau, Stephen E. White, and Ailsa Henderson. "A tale of two
liberalisms? Attitudes toward minority religious symbols in Quebec and Canada." Canadian
Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique (2018): 1-19.