Citizenry, Governance and Ethno‐cultural and Religious Minorities: A Model of Integration Under Stress

Using citizenship as a lens, this article aims to determine the conditions that result in the inclusion or exclusion of ethno-cultural and religious minorities in Quebec. It is also interested in models of governance that examine how the type of governance practiced by the state is reflected in the policies put forward and the consequences on the participation of ethno-cultural and religious minorities in the public realm. This research is innovative since it proposes to examine the positions put forward by ethno-cultural and religious minorities, a perspective that has been, for the most part, overlooked in the literature. In Quebec, numerous events concerning the accommodation of ethnocultural and religious differences have marked the social and political climate. The creation, by the Quebec government in February 2007, of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, culminated in a society-wide re-evaluation of the models of integration, of citizenship and of the role of ethno-cultural and religious minorities in Quebec society. This article seeks to illustrate the variety of positions put forward by ethno-cultural and religious minorities, and the challenges vis-à-vis various models of governance.