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Contrary to Legault's claim, one-quarter of francophone Canadians identify as atheists

Even among Quebecers who call themselves Catholic, many are only 'nominally Catholic. They identify as Catholic and they construe that as being cultural rather than religious.'

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Actually, no, “all French Canadians” aren’t Catholic.

Statistics don’t bear out the statement made by Quebec Premier François Legault in Los Angeles Wednesday as he made small talk with California Governor Gavin Newsom.

In fact, one-quarter of French-speaking Canadians define themselves as atheists, according to a Léger Marketing poll conducted in May for the Association for Canadian Studies.

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Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed by Léger said Catholic, three per cent Protestant and one per cent Muslim. The rest identified with other religions or preferred not to say.

The francophones surveyed would have included French-speaking immigrants and their descendants, said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies.

But the vast majority included the “French Canadians” Legault was presumably referring to — French speakers whose families have lived in Canada for generations, Jedwab said.

Léger surveyed 2,215 Canadians, including 1,212 in Quebec.

The survey results include figures for majority-francophone Quebec, though not broken down by the language of respondents.

Most — 57 per cent — of those surveyed in Quebec described themselves as Catholic, with one-quarter identifying as atheists.

Even among those who call themselves Catholic, many are only “nominally Catholic,” Jedwab said. “They identify as Catholic and they construe that as being cultural rather than religious.”

In Quebec, “the institutional side of religion is something that is very eroded,” Jedwab noted. For example, francophone Quebecers have one of the lowest rates of religious marriage on the planet.

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For the poll, Léger also looked at attendance of religious services and belief in God.

Compared with other Canadians, Quebecers were the least likely to say they “often” attend religious services. Only 10 per cent of Quebec respondents fell into that category; the Canadian average was 19 per cent.

Across Canada, francophones were less likely to believe in God than anglophones. Among French speakers, 50 per cent said they somewhat or strongly agree God exists, compared with 59 per cent of English speakers.

The comments by Legault, whose government introduced a secularism law that bars some government employees from wearing religious symbols, were mocked by some on social media.

“Long live secularism!” tweeted MNA Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for the opposition Québec solidaire. “The premier is telling you: ALL ‘French Canadians’ are Catholic. Lord, it’s embarrassing.”

Legault, on a trade mission in California, took to Twitter to defend the remark.

“Of course, I was talking about our common origins, Irish and French Catholic,” Legault tweeted, apparently referring to himself and Newsom, California’s governor.

During the exchange with Newson, picked up by television cameras, Legault brings up religion, asking the governor: “You’re Catholic, no?”

Newson confirms it. “Yeah, me, too,” Legault says. “Of course, all French-Canadians are Catholic — but you’re Irish?”

“Irish Catholic; with all the good and bad that comes with it. We have a lot of history, Irish Catholics,” Newsom says.

“Of course, I understand,” Legault responds. “We can talk about religious signs.”

Newsom answers: “Oh, I know it’s an issue for you guys — I don’t want to get into that in front of all these guys,” apparently referring to journalists.

It’s not the first time Legault has raised eyebrows with comments about religion while on foreign trips.

In October 2018, while on a trip to Armenia, Legault said he didn’t see the crucifix in the National Assembly as a religious symbol.

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ariga@postmedia.com

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