QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The Canadian province of Quebec has voted unanimously to ban Sikhs' ceremonial daggers called kirpans from legislative buildings in Quebec City.
The governing Liberal party voted in favor of the opposition bill introduced by the separatist Parti Quebecois Wednesday afternoon for a 133-0 tally, The (Montreal) Gazette reported.
PQ legislator Louise Beaudoin was the bill's author and told reporters multiculturalism was in the Canadian Constitution, but not in Quebec's. No Quebec government has signed on to Canada's Constitution that was ratified in 1982, the report said.
Beaudoin said Sikhs' ceremonial daggers are barred from United Nations buildings in New York and Geneva, and Quebec has the same right.
Meanwhile, The Globe and Mail said the Liberals voted for the kirpan ban solely for security reasons.
The World Sikh Organization issued a statement condemning the vote.
"We're disappointed that the wearing of the kirpan, which is a human rights issue, has been politicized," the organization said.
The issue began to simmer Jan. 18 when four Sikh men who were going to testify before a committee about religious freedoms were turned away from the Legislature, known as the National Assembly.
There is also a bill before the Quebec Legislature that would ban Islamic face coverings.
