Article content continued

A language bill has already been watered down from what the PQ proposed in the election, and it will have to be diluted even further to have any hope of passing through the minority legislature.

Bill 14 has no support from the main opposition party, the Liberals, while a smaller opposition party, the Coalition, is demanding a rewrite in exchange for its possible support.

Drainville says the secularism delay will allow the government to continue consulting Quebecers.

“There are many people who have told me, ‘This is a debate that is very important for our society’,” Drainville said in Quebec City on Wednesday.

He said there would be “groups of people, concerned people” who will help create the position.

In the meantime, the government is seeking to rally public opinion.

It has commissioned a poll on public attitudes toward minority accommodations, leaked the poll to a newspaper, and posted it Wednesday on the government website.

The poll asks respondents how much, on a scale of one to 10, the issue of religious accommodation is an “important problem.”

The average respondent ranked the “problem” at 6.5 out of 10.

The Leger Marketing Internet poll of 1,506 Quebecers — including 500 non-francophones — also says 78 per cent of respondents believe the religious accommodation issue remains important.

The March 12-17 survey has a margin of error of 2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Opposition parties are skeptical of the government’s intentions.