Fair accommodation for Gabriel

Nous avons reçu cette lettre ouverte (apparemment également publiée dans la Gazette de ce jour) :

I don't understand.

A boy named Mohamed successfully defended his right to recite his daily prayers at school, and another named Gurjab was accorded the right to wear his kirpan at school. But when our son Gabriel claims exemption from the ethics and religious culture course, the door gets slammed in his face – and all within the same education system. Well, Gabriel also has the right to claim reasonable accommodation! Gabriel at 11 is in the process of building his identity. Like thousands of other students his age, he is attempting to understand and to integrate the values his family is trying to instill in him – quite a challenge!

In the midst of this, the state, under the pretext of multiculturalism, wants to impose on him the study of an arsenal of spirituality and traditions. We object to this approach. As a family, we do not accept that the education system so disrespectfully challenge the values it is our right to transmit to our children. In spite of what is claimed, the ethics and religious culture course can not possibly integrate different nationalities and religions within this social project, as without identity, there can be no integration. This identity is not yet acquired by a child of Gabriel's age, and will not likely be acquired until the end of adolescence. For all of these reasons, we will continue to demand that our rights and our differences be respected in this education system which trains the adults of the future. Our request is just as important as those of Mohamed and Gurbaj, and of all those who have adopted this country as theirs.

Karl Santaguida, Montréal