MONTREAL — The Parti Quebecois says it could amend its controversial values charter based on public input it receives before submitting the minority-accommodation plan to the legislature.
The comments came one week after the release of the PQ government’s proposals, in the midst of an acrimonious debate on minority rights.
That promise to listen, and potentially amend the religion plan before it’s tabled as a bill this fall, echoes statements from the PQ during the summer.
“We’re looking at ways to improve the proposal,” said Quebec’s minister responsible for Montreal, Jean-Francois Lisee, on Tuesday.
“We’re listening. It’s been less than one week, we’re asking people to participate and we’ll take these into consideration.”
He offered no details on what the potential changes might look like.
Because the current plan has no opposition support the minority government could either water it down, split it in pieces, or preserve the entire thing for use in a later election campaign.
The PQ received an offer Tuesday from the Coalition party to quickly pass a watered-down version of the plan, but replied that it wants to give the debate some more time.
As it stands, the PQ is still defending the plan in its current form. Lisee called it “modern and progressive” and compared the wearing of religious garb to political slogans — which is forbidden for public servants.