Montreal to remove city hall welcome sign that includes woman wearing hijab
Global News
The image at City Hall was revealed last June, after the building reopened following extensive renovations. Since then, there have been numerous calls for it to be taken down.
A welcome sign in the lobby of Montreal’s newly renovated city hall depicting a woman wearing a headscarf will be removed in the name of secularism, Montreal’s mayor says, following criticism that the image is offensive.
Valérie Plante said during a talk show that aired Sunday night that the drawing of a woman wearing what looks like a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, will be taken down because of the “discomfort” it causes but also because institutions must strive to be secular.
In the image, which is in the style of a pencil sketch, the woman is standing between two men — one who seems younger and is wearing a baseball cap and overcoat, and an older man with his hands crossed in front of him. “Welcome to Montreal City Hall!” is written in French above them.
“I think we can talk about diversity — the great cultural wealth of Montreal — while favouring secularism,” Plante told Radio-Canada talk show “Tout le monde en parle.”
Meanwhile, in the city’s east end, another photo involving a hijab recently stoked controversy. The public library in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough used a photo with children — including a smiling girl wearing a hijab — to advertise a reading event for kids aged three to six.
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has said the welcome sign at City Hall and the library advertisement show that religion has begun invading the public sphere.
Religion’s supposed infiltration into public spaces has resurfaced in recent weeks after 11 teachers were suspended at a Montreal public elementary school over allegations of toxicity and creeping religious instruction.
The image at City Hall, which was still up on Monday, was revealed last June, after the building reopened following extensive renovations. Since then, there have been numerous calls for it to be taken down.
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The image at City Hall was revealed last June, after the building reopened following extensive renovations. Since then, there have been numerous calls for it to be taken down.
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