QUEBEC CITY, May 23 (UPI) -- The crucifix in the Canadian province of Quebec's legislature will remain in place despite a commission's contrary recommendations, the premier said.
The provincially funded report on Quebec's heritage and future called, to assert state neutrality, for the removal of the cross that hangs in the National Assembly in Quebec City, The Gazette newspaper in Montreal reported.
Conservative Premier Jean Charest said he supported many of the report's findings and suggestions on French culture but balked at the call to remove the crucifix, the newspaper said.
"The crucifix is about 350 years of history in Quebec that none of us are ever going to erase and of a very strong presence, in particular, of the Catholic church, and that's our reality," he told reporters. "As you look around this place you will find many, many symbols that speak to that period."
