Quebec to ban 'street prayers' in the wake of Islamic demonstrations

With Quebec promising on Thursday to ban “street prayers,” the province’s minister of laicity has avoided mention of any particular faith.

Jean-François Roberge issued a Thursday statement referencing only a “proliferation of street prayers” in Quebec. Roberge added that it was an “increasingly visible phenomenon, particularly in Montreal.”

But the move just so happens to coincide with rising opposition to a new phenomenon of mass Islamic prayers on Quebec streets.

Group Islamic prayers have become a feature of some of the anti-Israel demonstrations that have hit Canadian streets since the terrorist attacks of October 7.

Quebec’s plan to ban public prayers comes in the wake of a 278-page committee report recommending strategies to further entrench the province’s commitment to laicity