Quebec’s premier said Tuesday that the government must “draw a line in the sand” on freedom of expression, as he defended legislation under consideration by provincial lawmakers that would restrict Islamic face coverings for women and hateful speech deemed to foment violence.
In an interview with the editorial board of The New York Times, the premier, Philippe Couillard, also asserted that the legislation was far less onerous than measures that had been proposed by the previous provincial administration, which was defeated by his Quebec Liberal Party more than a year ago.
The province has been shaken by fears of homegrown terrorism and radicalized youths. Last month, the police arrested 10 teenagers as they were about to depart Montreal to join jihadist militants in Syria and Turkey. Some were reported to have ties to six Quebecers who had made that journey in January, Canadian news media reported.
Last October, a man inspired by Islamic extremists overseas used his car to kill a soldier in Quebec, and a gunman who had converted to Islam traumatized Ottawa, the nation’s capital, killing a war-memorial sentry and invading the Parliament before he was fatally shot.
While radicalization fears are certainly not unique to Quebec, the premier said, it is a sensitive issue among the largely French-speaking province’s eight million people. “They’re concerned about radicalization, concerned about how we live together,” he said. “If we keep inactive on this question, it adds to the problem. People feel threatened and insecure.”
Mr. Couillard said “a couple of 10,000s of Muslims,” mostly from French-speaking North African nations, live in Quebec.
Whereas the previous government sought a widespread ban on the wearing of all religious symbols by public servants, the premier said, the so-called religious neutrality bill now under consideration would be much narrower. It would only prohibit female civic or provincial employees who have face-to-face dealings with the public from wearing the conservative Muslim attire that covers faces.
“The role of the government is to draw a line in the sand,” Mr. Couillard said. “This issue of face covering for me has very little to do with religion, and a lot to do about the image of women, the status of women in our society. Showing your face is the essence of communication.”
He said the other proposed piece of legislation in Quebec, concerning hate speech, was necessary to strengthen legal protections against the targets of violence incited by words.
A draft of the legislation would assign powers of investigation and punitive action, including fines and identification on a publicly available list, to a Human Rights Tribunal, which would determine whether a person had engaged in or disseminated hate speech that incited violence.
The premier said refinements in the bill would be worked out in Quebec’s legislature.
“You can say you don’t like this community, don’t like this people, but there’s a limit that can be reached in society,” he said. “There is no such thing as an absolute right. Calling people to violence is something that cannot be accepted.”
Mr. Couillard, who is also a neurosurgeon, was visiting New York as part of a mission promoting Quebec as an environmentally progressive place to do business, with enormous hydropower resources.
The province has been a leader in the so-called cap-and-trade systemfor emission allowances, which began two years ago. It basically sets a price on carbon emissions in a way that creates a market of buyers and sellers of credits for low emissions and encourages reductions. Last year, Quebec linked its system with California’s.
An outspoken supporter of efforts to combat global warming, Mr. Couillard acknowledged his differences on the issue with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Mr. Couillard said the federal authorities had not impeded Quebec’s policies.
“In reality, Canada is moving ahead,” he said.
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