Outremont's arbitrary attitude towards human rights and freedoms

The Borough of Outremont is currently in the process of adopting a zoning bylaw that will ban new places of worship. When compounded with existing restrictions already in place, this ban will effectively result in a complete ban of ALL new places of worship throughout the territory of the borough.

Considering that:

1) Outremont mayor Mme Marie Cinq-Mars has repeatedly confirmed that no prior studies have been conducted to assess the economic and social needs of the areas concerned, nor to assess the impact of this regulation.

2) While we fully understand the need to revise the zoning to revitalize commercial arteries and regulate issues related to pollution and nuisances etc, we remain strongly convinced that the adoption of a regulation relating to restricting religious freedom of individuals must to be done with much more sensitivity and consultation than what we are currently seeing in this process.

3) This arbitrary and insensitive attitude and approach displayed by the borough of Outremont towards the fundamental rights of its citizens constitutes in our opinion an assault on Canada's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms [1] as well as the Québec's Charte des droits et libertés de la personne [2]. It also violates the spirit of the Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities [3] and the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination [4].

We therefore call on the Outremont's borough councillors to vote against the proposed ban. And we implore on mayor Cinq-Mars to open a genuine dialogue in order to assess the needs of all citizens, businesses and district organizations and thus make an informed decision for the future of Outremont.

 

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[1] Canada's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms : http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/fra/const/page-15.html

[2] Charte des droits et libertés de la personne : http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/fr/droits-de-la-personne/

[3] Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities : http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=3016%2C3375607&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

[4] Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination : http://unesco.ca/home-accueil/ccmard-ccmcrd%20new