by Timothy Edward, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

The CAQ shot down a Parti Québécois motion on Thursday that sought to cut public funding of private religious schools. This motion was introduced in the National Assembly in the wake of the Bedford School scandal, which reignited conversations about secularism in Quebec.

The roughly 50 Quebec institutions in question, most of which are of Catholic heritage, receive $160-million in public funds annually.

The private schools were founded, Premier François Legault said, “by members of the clergy. Schools that were Catholic, in our opinion, there is no problem with these schools!”

Some critics reacted to Legault’s comments citing the inherent hypocrisy of the government that introduced the secularism law Bill 21 supporting historically Catholic institutions on the basis of their religious or cultural heritage. Others, however, noted that defunding all schools with religious heritage would damage institutions such as Collège Notre-Dame and Brébeuf.

The Bedford School scandal, which resulted in the dismissal of several Maghrebi teachers for not following the curriculum and allegedly implementing Muslim cultural practices in the classroom, prompted Legault to decry “the entry of Islamism” into Quebec schools.