PQ puts focus on values charter as Quebec campaign enters home stretch

MONTREAL – The Parti Quebecois is trying to turn attention toward its charter of values as the Quebec election campaign enters the home stretch.

Leader Pauline Marois headlined what the party called a “secular brunch” today, featuring several prominent supporters of the proposal.

Janette Bertrand, a well-known Quebec feminist and leader of a pro-charter group known as the Janettes, was on hand to make her case for the plan.

Bertrand says the accommodation of religious minorities in everyday life threatens to erode the equality between men and women.

Djemila Benhabib, a staunch anti-Islamist and a PQ candidate with a Algerian roots, also attended the brunch.

The PQ’s charter of values ban would public sector employees _ including teachers and daycare workers _ from displaying or wearing religious symbols such as the hijab.

The PQ has put the focus on identity issues like language and the values charter in recent days.

Both were expected to be key to the campaign, but originally took a back seat to whether there would be another sovereignty referendum after star candidate Pierre Karl Peladeau and Marois discussed the possibility of an independent Quebec.

The proposed charter has been highly controversial but polls suggests it’s favoured by a majority of francophones, a key voting group in the April 7 election.