83% of Quebecers are considered Roman Catholic. About 5% are Protestant. 5% is said to be of ''no religion''. The rest is distributed among all the other religions with Muslims getting 1,52% and Jews getting 1.26%.
The problem with these stats is that among the 83% who are Roman Catholic, only a minority of these folks actually practise religion. A good majority would actually be of ''no religion''. I myself would be considered Roman Catholic according to stats (I am baptized) but in practise I am not.
In terms of this discussion, this "problem" is crucial... In the event that 83% are RC, then eliminating a culturally relevant component acts in a manner that doesn't represent the majority. .. In the event that only a few % are practicing, then the stats are unfairly skewed to over-represent one specific group at the expense of the others.
I am no fan of statistics for a couple of reasons.... The #'s can be easily manipulated to suit an agenda and the raw data can also be manipulated (all accidental-like) to generate a pre-conceived result.
In this case, it makes little sense for anyone to say that 83% of the pop is RC, but the majority aren't RC enough to practice or want the principles applied.
The poll concerns religion and education and more precisely the new course given in all public schools called ''Éthique et culture religieuse'' (Ethics and religious culture).
At some point, we have to determine if daycare is considered education. Also, is the daycare "system" funded by the Quebec ministry of Education?
Returning to the topic; as I mentioned before this is really about the secularization of Quebec's educational system. Comments by others to the contrary most daycare establishments do contain a strong educational component.
Is the daycare system funded by the Ministry of Education?
Currently due to government funding Quebec has the most comprehensive daycare system in Canada. What this is all about is making sure that various religious interests do not turn the daycare system into an extension of their religious beliefs. You may or may not agree with this position, but essentially that is what is happening.
Quebec's daycare system is fueled by transfer payments from other provinces.