The organizer of the “Rallye Feu, Foi et Liberté” has served a formal notice to Secretary of Tourism Caroline Proulx and the Quebec City Convention Center after unilaterally terminating the lease of spaces that had been contracted to hold a gathering of Christians who Being labeled “anti-abortion opponents” by the Quebec government.
The notice, sent on June 2nd, does not invoke “any valid legal basis” but is supported in Le Devoir’s formal communication.
It warns its recipients that if the lease is not restored “as is” by Thursday, the case will quickly be taken to the courts.
The rally is not an “anti-abortion” event, the letter sent Monday on behalf of the organizer, British Columbia-based Christian organization Harvest Ministries International, stresses that the convention center and other provincial crown properties are abusive, discriminatory and unconstitutional because it violates the Charter protecting freedom of expression and religion.
The event was scheduled to take place in Quebec from June 23 to July 2. In January, the organizer reserved premises in the Center des congrès de Québec, a crown company.
But Secretary Proulx requested the event be canceled and the convention center complied, Radio-Canada reported last Friday.
“It goes against the fundamental principles of Quebec. […] Such an event will not take place here,” Ms Proulx declared last week, a position which later garnered public support from Prime Minister François Legault.
“They gave an event that had nothing of the sort the label ‘anti-abortion’,” the letter accuses: A speech, presentation, projection or topic of this kind is not on the program, it says in detail .
These statements and the termination of the contract are “strangely reminiscent of what happened in Roncarelli v. Duplessis,” writes the promoter’s attorney, Me Samuel Bachand, citing a famous decision by Canada’s Supreme Court on discrimination and freedom of religion.
While there is no reference to abortion in the current online description of the event, Harvest Ministries’ website makes it clear that it opposes abortion, pointing out that its legality makes a woman’s womb “the most dangerous thing for a child in Canada”. »
According to Pastor Art Lucier, head of Harvest Ministries, this contract termination will cause him significant material damage as he “needs now, in the middle of the high season, to find an alternative location for the rally, close to hotels and restaurants where reservations and Down payments have already been made. He estimates – tentatively – his financial losses at more than $450,000 if he has to cancel the event.
“Everyone has the right to express their beliefs and deep values, even if they are in the minority or unpopular. In Quebec, as in the rest of Canada, there is no place for government arbitrariness, censorship and discrimination,” the pastor wrote in a press release.
Minister Proulx declined to comment.
Assistance and questions to the CAQ government
Last week, the Parti Québécois, the Liberal Party and Québec Solidaire all backed the government’s decision.
However, PQ boss Paul St-Pierre Plamondon put his position into perspective on Wednesday, but without contradicting his deputy Pascal Bérubé, who had unreservedly supported Caroline Proulx’s decision.
“Currently there seems to be confusion between each party’s position on abortion on the one hand and each party’s position on freedom of expression and association on the other,” he wrote on social media on Wednesday.
He called on the government to clarify the criteria that led to the decision to terminate the lease.
“My party unreservedly supports abortion rights, that’s one thing. But should the government now allow itself to be given the power to dictate, on an arbitrary basis, who can gather and speak out in our society? »
Liberal leader Marc Tanguay refused to advance the criteria that would allow the government to avoid charges of making arbitrary decisions about access to public buildings.
“Access to abortion and freedom of choice are fundamental values,” he said. It is not the government’s job to provide them with a forum and in this case the minister was very well advised. »
with Alexandre Robillard