To an outsider, Quebec's Bill 60 appears to be a strange game of chicken. The bill, which seeks to ban religious symbols in government workplaces, looks like it was specifically designed to anger as many people as possible to prove a point. The province has people who want to ban certain religious dress - specifically from religions they don't like, of course - while they get to keep their own symbols. Since the province can't do that, they've taken the approach of banning everything, forcing people to unite with their one-time enemies.
Of course, that's not how the motivations are being played, it would be a dangerous tactic to actively say that you introduced a bill with the sole purpose of making people mad. Also, since it continues to go forward, it's not quite clear who is actually winning this confrontation, or if it's a case where everyone, eventually, will lose in some way. It certainly isn't a way to drum up support for the government, as there are enough people bothered by the law. The only clear motivation is a deliberate attempt to anger people against a common enemy, and then force them to realize that they're not all that different, one man's cross is another woman's habib is another man's turban. It's even kind of working, but not at the level needed stop the bill.
It does raise the question of whether religious symbols should be allowed in the workplace. The answer to that question is yes, provided that there are no safety issues related to wearing that article of clothing or jewelry. Extra loose fabric and chains should not be worn by anyone whose job involves operating a lathe, for example, because that could be dangerous, no matter how symbolic and important that piece is. It is not going to be a big deal to most people who work in government, so it should be fine. Any decisions of that nature depend on what the actual job entails. The problem comes when people want to discriminate based on religion, and use the garment as an excuse.
After all, one of the women opposing the bill was attacked in the subway, by someone attempting to remove her habib and tell her she does not belong in Quebec. This is the indirect source of the law in the first place, people who see others with a culture they don't understand, and then objecting - often with force - rather than putting in an effort to understand why they are wearing what they are.
By banning everything, the Quebec government is going the distance in proving a point. This is the only way they can do it, they must either ban everything or ban nothing at all, half measures count as discrimination. In this case, it also makes people take notice, for they are also being affected. It should, hopefully, make them realize what they are doing and how that affects other people. It is a silly and juvenile way to get that across, but so long as people are attacking others for what they wear, the province's population might just be silly and juvenile enough to need that lesson.
With that said, I can't see the law lasting, and I hope nowhere else in the country attempts the same thing. I'm of the mind that so long as a cultural difference does no harm, there is no reason for the government to get involved, even if it's just in the case of their own employees.
