Words About Bill 21 - Quebec

From Catherine Jarvis:

2019-05-10

We are a group of physicians working in the Montreal neighbourhoods of Cote-des-Neiges and Parc-Extension.  These vibrant neighbourhoods include over a quarter of a million people from diverse backgrounds and have a population density between 7,500 and 8,600 persons per square kilometre. Between 40-60% of the adult population have a college or university education. Nearly fifty percent of the population are immigrants.  The languages spoken by the population are roughly divided with ⅓ francophones, ⅓ anglophone and ⅓ allophones.  

On any given day, physicians in our clinics interact with people from a variety of places, in a variety of languages, and with a variety of different beliefs.   All the people have chosen to be part of Quebec society. The neighbourhood and our clinic thrive on a pluralistic model that accepts differences yet finds common ground.  Our neighbourhoods and clinics function because each citizen respects Quebec's Charter of Human Rights which includes the right to life, liberty, freedom of expression, equality before the law, economic rights, including the right to work, and the right to education. The people of Cote des Neiges and Parc Extension enrich Quebec society and model the best of our collective efforts to live together in harmony.

The signatories of this letter are physicians, but also medical educators and teachers. Although we are not currently identified as being affected by this bill, as teachers we are mindful of the message Bill 21 sends to students, including our students, the future family physicians of Quebec. Many of our learners are themselves immigrants or the children of immigrants. These young physicians most of whom have done their primary and secondary education in Quebec have been promised that their embrace of the French language and culture would give them a full and equal place in Quebec society without religious or cultural discrimination.  Bill 21 sends them a very different and distressing message. We support the right of all people to work in Quebec without discrimination on the basis of their religious practise.  

As physicians with expertise working with migrant populations, we know all too well the barriers faced by this population as they try to integrate into Quebec society. We respect and champion the need for a secular government to ensure that all, including minorities and new immigrants are equal before the law and are supported in their efforts to integrate into Quebec society. However, forcing integration, restricting charter rights without due cause, and providing no avenue for challenging these limits before the law will not promote the cohesive communities we want in Quebec.  We raise significant concerns that Bill 21 in fact discriminates against minority communities.  Bill 21 rejects the fundamental charter rights of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and freedom of religion and expressly plans to limit these freedoms by invoke the notwithstanding clause.  We oppose this measure and reiterate the need to re-enforce and champion Quebec's Charter Rights.  

We want to highlight the fact that there is absolutely no evidence in any academic literature to supports the government’s position that the wearing of religious symbols has a detrimental effect on society.  We do note however that there is a significant amount of research strongly showing "that discrimination can exacerbate stress. Moreover, discrimination-related stress is linked to mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression."¹ These health-related issues are seen in both adults and children who experience discrimination.^2-6

We urge the government to consider the health impacts of Bill 21 and the negative impact this bill will have on minority, religious and migrant communities in Quebec.

Dr. Catherine Jarvis, MD - CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University

Dr. Perle Feldman, MD – CLSC Park Extension

Associate Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University.

Dr Namta Gupta, MD – CLSC Côte-des-Neiges
Associate Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University

Dr. Daniel Ince-Cushman, MD - CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University

Dr. Helen Mavromichalis, MD – CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Faculty lecturer, Family Medicine, McGill University

Dorothy Opatowski , Psychologist – CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Dr Gaël O'Shaughnessy, MD – CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Dr. Helene Rousseau , MD - CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Former Assistant Dean for Rural Education, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University

Dr. Heather Rubenstein, MD – CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, McGill University
Dr. Pierre-Paul Tellier, MD -  CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Associate Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University

Dr. Hannah Shenker, MD -  CLSC Côte-des-Neiges

Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, McGill University

References

1. American Psychological Association Website https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/impact

2. Dovidio JF, Penner LA, Albrecht TL, Norton WE, Gaertner SL, Shelton JN. Disparities and distrust: the implications of psychological processes for understanding racial disparities in health and health care. Soc Sci Med. 2008:67(3):478–86.

3. Luo Y, Xu J, Granberg E,Wentworth WM. A longitudinal study of social status, perceived discrimination, and physical and emotional health among older adults. Res Aging. 2012;34:275–301. doi: 0164027511426151.

4. Pascoe EA, Smart RL. Perceived discrimination and health: a meta-analytic review. Psychol Bull. 2009;135(4):531–54.

5. Anderson, K. F. (2013). Diagnosing discrimination: Stress from perceived racism and the mental and physical health effects. Sociological Inquiry, (83), 55–81. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-682X.2012.00433.x

6. Sirin, S. R., Rogers-Sirin, L., Cressen, J., Gupta, T., Ahmed, S. F., & Novoa, A. D. (2015). Discrimination-related stress effects on the development of internalizing symptoms among Latino adolescents. Child Development. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12343

Statistics can be found at https://www.centris.ca/en/tools/community-profile/montreal-island