The National Post:

It would no longer be possible for a doctor, nurse or teacher currently on the public payroll to lose their job for wearing a cross or hijab in the workplace in a toned down “values charter” presented Thursday by Bernard Drainville.

But, in the future, new hires would not have such a right and would have to understand the state must not only be secular it must appear to be, Drainville said.

Conceding the original Parti Québécois government’s charter of values tried to change too much too fast, Drainville — a candidate for the party leadership — retreated on several key elements of the original bill he tried to steer into law while minister of democratic institutions in the former government.

He said his new package better respects the body of opinion on the matter.

My objective is to rally a certain number of people who were against the charter

“My objective is to rally a certain number of people who were against the charter,” Drainville told reporters at a news conference. “I want to create a greater consensus.”

“We have to go more gradually. That’s one of the lessons I got in this debate.”

MORE