1. Objectifs

Intentions :
L’auteure aborde la question du droit des parents de décider du type d’éducation voulue pour leurs enfants, principalement vis-à-vis le programme d’Éthique et culture religieuse [ERC dans le présent résumé] établi en 2008 par le gouvernement du Québec. L’article se penche plus spécifiquement sur les jugements de la Cour Suprême du Canada et de la Cour Suprême du Québec qui réfutaient le droit des parents de soustraire leurs enfants au nouveau programme québécois.

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Données documentaires diverses

Type de traitement des données :
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

«In May 2008 Quebec’s new ERC program became compulsory for all Quebec students […] At the heart of the ERC case is the primary right of parents to choose the type of education that best suits their children. While the Supreme Court acknowledged that the ''right of parents to bring up their children in their faith is part of religious freedom guaranteed by the Canadian Charter,'' it proceeded to assert that there was no evidence that the ERC Program interfered with this.» (p. 12) «By imposing this mandate upon parents, the religious and multicultural diversity it claims to protect is compromised. We can rightly question how uniformity ensures diversity if, in the name of ‘respect for diversity’, the family is not free to live its own religious culture in its entirety.» (p. 13) «The Court affirmed that […] the Canadian Charter ‘does not require the legislature to refrain from imposing any burdens on the practice of religion.’ [T]he Court chose to rule in favour of the State’s right to reject exemption. This creates in Canada a new ‘default position’ of State supremacy, siding with the government in determining and mandating educational programs for all children, instead of upholding parental primacy in education.» (p. 14)