Members of Quebec Solidaire today voted overwhelmingly to change the party's official stance on religious symbols. The left-wing sovereigntist party now officially opposes any ban on public-sector employees wearing religious symbols, even those in positions of authority.
The move signals a break from the party's decade-long position of supporting the Bouchard-Taylor compromise, and makes the party the firmest opponent in the National Assembly of the Legault Government's controversial, but broadly popular, Bill 21.
Eve Torres, a hijab-wearing woman who ran under the party's banner in last year's provincial election in the riding of Mont-Royal—Outremont, told CTV she's pleased with the decision her party made.
"This is a good choice to protect minorities, to continue to protect social justice," she said.
Party co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, meanwhile, emphasized that the mood within the party had been shifting in this direction for quite some time.
"Feeling a discomfort about something is not a valid reason to ban it," he said in a press conference following the vote.
With files from CTV Montreal.