Mennonites may flee Quebec town

sermonindex Jun 17, 2014

Members of Quebec's only Mennonite community say they may move to Ontario or New Brunswick so they can keep their children in a private school that suits their religious beliefs.

Fifteen English-speaking Mennonite families in this small community in the Monteregie region say they won't send their children to government-approved schools, balking at the teaching of evolution, the acceptance of gays and lesbians and low "morality standards."

They say they are considering relocation out of fear that child-protection officials will seize their children. ...

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HeartSong Jun 18, 2014

"We want to keep these people here - they're part of our community," the Mayor said.

"They're good neighbours. They integrated into the community, they work hard, they have farms, they work in businesses in the region. They're everywhere -- it's not a sect that closes itself off from others."

For a town of 1,300 people, losing "15 families hurts -- it hurts economically, but it also hurts because everybody loves these people and we're saying, 'Why? Why is this happening?' "

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Benjamin7 Jun 18, 2014

That article is from 2007, as the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodations happened in 2007-2008 as well as the Herouxville acceptable behaviour guide which was around the same time.

Here in Quebec many families are homeschooling their children without too much trouble, Christian and not. I know many families that do it in our churches. My wife and I plan to do it also. From my simplistic understanding, I think that what's illegal is not homeschooling, but rather sending your child to a school that is not following the gouvernement curriculum. When you homeschool, the governement has no say in the program you choose to use.

I wonder what finally happened to these families though.

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ginnyrose Jun 20, 2014

I called my brother who is affiliated with this branch of Mennonites about this situation. I tried calling my sister whose husband has served on their school board many years in NC thinking they would be aware of the problem but got no answer.

My brother said this situation just fizzled and the people remained living there in this community. If I find anything out differently, I will come back and let you know.

The fact is that our families are under assault - the gov thinks they know best how to teach them then what the parents know. So it may come down to fight or run and where to without being harassed may become a challenge.