Westmount High produces video against charter of 'values'
Teacher Robert Green says students, teachers seriously affected by proposed secular charter
Students at Westmount High School put together anti-secular charter of “values” video message for Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois.
Throughout the video, which was posted to YouTube Tuesday morning, students and teachers are seen reciting, in English and French, articles and passages from the Quebec and Canadian charters of human rights and freedoms, the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and finally, the Quebec Education Program — which was introduced by Marois herself in 1997 when she was education minister.
“The idea really, I think, comes from our experiences as teachers to begin with,” said Westmount High teacher Robert Green. He also said members of the faculty and student body had been participating in frequent anti-charter protests outside the school for some time.
He produced the video earlier in the school year, but said members of the school who were involved decided to hold onto the video and release it during the election to have more impact.
Green said the PQ’s proposed secular charter really affects both students and staff at the school, many of whom wear hijabs and kippas.
“We decided that we wanted to bring a message highlighting just how contrary the charter of values is to the values of an open democratic society,” he told CBC Daybreak host Mike Finnerty Tuesday morning.
Watch the video here: