Deliberations of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission

Quebecers to be consulted in September on accommodation practices

Montreal, June 7, 2007 – Quebecers will be invited to submit briefs and express their viewpoints on accommodation practices related to cultural differences at hearings to be held from September to December 2007 in Montréal, Québec City and the regions. The Advisory Committee on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences will announce the dates and places of the hearings in August.

In addition to this province-wide public consultation, the Commission has a mandate to accurately take stock of accommodation practices, analyse related issues bearing in mind experience outside Québec, and submit to the government a final report with its recommendations.

“We have understood and considered our mandate in a broad sense. We have focused in our reflection on questions of ethnocultural diversity, secularism and identity. We are analysing accommodation practices in a strictly legal sense and in a broader perspective, that of intercultural harmonization practice in public and private institutions or organizations,” noted Gérard Bouchard, Co-Chair of the Commission. “In a word, it is the management of diversity, in particular religious diversity, that is at the heart of the problem we are examining.”

The Commission has in recent weeks been drafting a consultation paper intended for individuals, groups, businesses and associations that wish to submit briefs and express their viewpoints on key questions related to accommodation practices.

“We have accomplished a lot in three months and the Commission is now fully operational,” added Co-Chair Charles Taylor. “My colleague and I have learned a great deal and continue every day to broaden our knowledge of a vast, complex field.”

Work under way

In the course of its initial organization over a period of three months and the drafting of the consultation paper, the Commission has relied through a wide-ranging array of meetings not only on the expertise of researchers and specialists in areas directly related to different facets of its mandate but also on numerous, varied meetings with individuals, representatives of associations, practitioners, managers and providers of public services.

Summary of preparations

The Commission has:

• awarded or is about to award 10 contracts for research projects;
• organized 10 discussion groups with 35 experts;
• organized 11 focus groups with individuals, two of them in the regions;
• held 30-odd meetings with representatives of organizations or associations;
• held meetings with managers from the government departments and agencies concerned.

Forthcoming stages in the Commission's deliberations

• June, July and August: further research, informal meetings and planning of public consultations;
• Mid-August: release of the consultation paper and launching of the Commission's Website;
• September to December: public consultations throughout Québec;
• Winter 2008: drafting of the Commission's report;
• March 31, 2008: submission to Premier Jean Charest of the Commission's report.

Commission secretariat

The administrative secretariat to support the co-chairs was set up in the weeks following the announcement on February 8, 2007 by Premier Jean Charest of the establishment of the Commission. The secretariat has been organized and staffing now stands at 13 employees, excluding the co-chairs. A team comprising 20 researchers and research assistants is contributing to the Commission's deliberations.

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