1. Jim Watson
Mayor I Maire
Office of the Mayor
City of Ottawa
no Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1
Tel.: (613) 580-2496
Fax: (613) 580-2509
E-mail:Jim.Watson@ottawa.ca
Bureau du Maire
Ville d'Ottawa
no, avenue Laurier Ouest
Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 1J1
Tel.: (613) 580-2496
Telec.: (613) 580-2509
Courriel : Jim.Watson@ottawa.ca
Honourable Philippe Couillard October 25, 2017
Premier of Québec
Édifice Honoré-Mercier, 3e
étage
835, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec) G1A 1B4
Premier,
I am writing to express my dismay at your government's recent decision to move forward and
pass Bill 62 into law. This regressive legislation is an infringement of the fundamental Charter
Right of freedom of individuals to express their religion in the manner they choose and
discriminates against women who chose to express that freedom.
Residents of the City of Ottawa interact regularly with government services in the City of
Gatineau and I am saddened that, in doing so, they will not enjoy the same freedoms as they do
in Ottawa.
I trust you have no expectation that the City of Ottawa's bus drivers, who also serve residents of
the City of Gatineau, will take any steps to enforce this legislation and, to be abundantly clear,
they will be instructed not to. The City of Ottawa will not be a party to this infringement of
constitutional freedoms.
I sincerely hope that, with the opportunity for reflection, your government will abandon what
can only be described as a thinly-veiled appeal to populist sentiment, in light of the divisive
effects of similar efforts to which we have been witness of late.
Sincerely,
Jim Watson
Mayor
City of Ottawa
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