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BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Public servants in positions of authority who refuse to remove religious symbols will be assigned to different jobs or dismissed, a spokeswoman for the Coalition Avenir Quebec transition team said Wednesday.

As the Coalition prepared its entry into government at a meeting south of Montreal, it was on the defensive over policies seen to target minority religious groups and immigrants.

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Genevieve Guilbault, elected for the Coalition in Quebec City’s Louis-Hebert riding, said Quebecers gave the Coalition a clear mandate to prohibit public servants wielding authority from wearing religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab and Jewish kippa. Those who lose their jobs after refusing to respect the new rules will be the authors of their own misfortune, she said.

Guilbault said when the new law is adopted, there will be a “transition period” for any judges, police officers, teachers, prosecutors and prison guards affected.