Excerpt:
Quebec's charter of values does not necessarily exclude the private sector from imposing the same restrictions on their employees as the ones demanded from public servants, says Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois.
The controversial secular charter prohibits public servants from wearing certain religious symbols in the workplace. The PQ leader, who was campaigning in Laval on Monday, said it wasn't her intention to impose the same restrictions on the private sector. But there was nothing in the bill that would stop private sector employers from imitating the government.
"The charter proposes to define the rules regarding state neutrality. The (religious) accommodations we will propose will be based on the principle of equality between men and women," Ms. Marois said. "Employers can determine the benchmarks by which reasonable accommodations are made. But they won't have the same obligations as those of the government."