Opinion: What laïcité is and what it is not

Marvin Rotrand’s proposal to allow Montreal police to wear hijabs, turbans or kippahs at work has been a talking point for days, as has Ève Torres’s plan to run for Québec solidaire in the next provincial election wearing her hijab. And now, there is the case of the hijab-wearing CEGEP student who wants to be a police officer.
“Whoa!” went Quebec. “What about laïcité?”
The concept of laïcité is misunderstood. Sadly, it doe