US/World News

Quebec to allow gatherings during Christmas, but not Chanukah

The plan would permit Quebecers to have gatherings of up to 10 people per day for four days in late December, in a concession to the fact that families would likely gather even as COVID-19 cases surge. Premier François Legault said Dec. 24-27 was chosen to allow residents to quarantine before and after without disrupting school and work schedules. But he also said he believed that Quebecers craved time with their families and that allowing them to come together would give them hope during a dark time. “Christmas, the holidays, is a time of year that’s precious, and let’s remember that family is the basis of our lives,” he said last week.

Asked whether any exceptions to the province’s ban on gatherings would be allowed during Chanukah, which this year runs Dec. 10-18, Legault said no. That response is drawing criticism from Canadian Jewish groups. “Premier Legault has not addressed the concerns and needs of several minority groups in Quebec, including the Jewish community,” said Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, said in a statement Friday, Nov. 20. “The Quebec government must take the needs of minority communities, including the Jewish community, into consideration, and work proactively with these communities prior to the lifting or imposition of unilateral COVID-19 restrictions. The Premier must be the premier of all Quebecers.”

Main Photo: A view of the empty Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, March 17, 2020. (Jocelyne Zablit/AFP via Getty Images)

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