Last year, Montreal children listened to Nativity stories, sang Hanukkah songs and played Muslim festival games. However, if these activities were used for teaching religion, 2010 could be their last year.

Quebec has decided to bring secularization to the tot-and-toddler set. Starting in June, publicly funded daycares that teach a particular faith to their young charges risk losing their government funding.  

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“All questions touching the transmission of faith – that is, teaching religion itself – do not belong within the publicly funded daycare system,” said Quebec family minister Yolande James. The government is tripling its number of daycare inspectors to 58.

“It will be left to civil servants to decide what is religious and what isn’t,” said Daniel Amar, executive director of the Quebec Jewish Congress. “How will they make the distinction between religion, tradition and custom? If a child draws a menorah, will the daycare lose its subsidy?”          

– Globeandmail.com

February 2011