Ethics and religious culture

Ethics and religious culture (Éthique et culture religieuse) is a course taught in all elementary and high schools in Quebec. It replaces the abolished subject of religious/moral education in these schools and is compulsory in all schools: private as well as public. The aim of the subject is to develop ethical thinking and dialog skills in response to the changing religious/ non religious diversity of cultural communities in the Province. It also allows for all students to understand Quebec's religious history. ( MELS ERC Curriculum LEARN QUEBEC) The program's twin paramount principles are Recognition of Others and Pursuit of the Common Good. It is also claimed that the course will promote a “culture of dialogue” among students.

The project was adopted under the liberal government of Jean Charest, and has garnered some controversy. The first year this course has been taught is 2008-2009.

The course has been opposed by three main groups:

Many condemned the fact that the State is imposing a vision of morals and religion (or lack thereof), while in a democratic society this is the purview of parents.

Two legal challenges were launched against the compulsory nature of this course.

A court case against the ERC curriculum was heard from the 11th to the 15th of May, 2009 in Quebec’s Superior Court in Drummondville. Two Catholic parents were challenging the school’s refusal of an exemption for both their first grader and their sixteen-year-old who was in last year of high school. They were arguing that the course’s contents put their children’s faith at risk by being premature, relativistic and polytheistic, and teaching ethics detached from the parents' moral framework. It was seen as a test case for Quebec parents.

The parents lost their court case and decided to bring their cause to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court granted the parents leave to appeal, but on hearing the merits determined that the appellants were unable to prove their case.

The case was heard on the 18th of May 2011 by the highest tribunal in Canada. A summary of the legal issues at stake is listed on the Supreme Court's site. The parents' factum is to be found here.

Apart from the original parties, 8 additional parties were granted the status of interveners (a pointer is supplied to the party's factum):

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada wrotea FAQ in layman's terms explaining what it saw as the issues at stake and how this court case differs from the Loyola one. Two court reports were published, one in English by a writer of the Catholic register, another more detailed in French by a parent in favour of parents being exempt of this course if they so wish.

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Wikipedia