Municipalities, rights groups concerned about Quebec bill on integrating immigrants
MONTREAL — Quebec municipalities and human rights groups are voicing concerns about proposed legislation that would require newcomers to abide by a set of common values.
They say the new bill on cultural integration could foster anti-immigrant sentiment and impose a heavy administrative burden on communities.
The bill, tabled in January by Quebec’s right-leaning Coalition Avenir Québec government, would have immigrants adhere to shared values including gender equality, secularism and protection of the French language. The legislation is the latest in a series of bills that aim to reinforce Quebec identity, following the province’s secularism law and its overhaul of the language law.
