Dorval, Pierrefonds cross with report's recommendation

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

Dorval and Pierrefonds/Roxboro, the only two West Island municipal authorities that engage in prayers before public council meetings stated that the practice will not go away anytime soon, despite a recommendation against this tradition by the Bouchard-Taylor commission's report on reasonable accommodations in Quebec made public last Thursday.

"It's part of the heritage of this province," said Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau, "we're going to keep doing that," he added. A crucifix adorns the city council chamber where monthly meetings are held in Dorval, and a prayer with Christian overtones is said at the beginning of each.

"We've never had any difficulties," Rouleau stated Monday night, adding that any who attend the council meetings are free to not stand up and say the prayers as the council and those who wish to pray do so.

Meanwhile, over at the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough, the issue seems to be a little bit more divided. Whereas borough spokesperson Johanne Paladini said borough mayor Monique Worth does not intend to put the issue of the prayer to council, and also thinks of it as a part of Quebec heritage, borough councillor Bertrand Ward said he would like the council to talk about the report's recommendation and discuss what path to take.

"We're in Quebec, it's part of Quebec's history," Paladini said. To her knowledge, Paladini said only once has Pierrefonds ever heard a complaint about the tradition, and that was quickly resolved.

However, Ward said it might not be as simple as that. "This will have to be debated by the rest of the council members and they will see what we can do," he said. Ward added he grew up a stone's throw from the Notre Dame de la Madeleine catholic church in Quebec, so the tradition does not really "bother him" on a personal level.

He added that much of the Bouchard-Taylor commission's recommendations reflect that Canada is an extremely open, multicultural society, and that Canadians who move to other countries, such as Russia, would not have nearly as many freedoms as do immigrants who arrive here.

Dorval and Pierrefond's dismissal of the report's recommendation arrives on the heels of a rejection by Premier Jean Charest of a similarly themed recommendation that the large crucifix currently adorning the top of the chair of the National Assembly's president be removed and placed in an area that "emphasizes its meaning from the standpoint of heritage."