Politicians the world over know that when you are down in the polls you need a distraction. Wars can be useful for that, but you have to rule a country to make that happen.

Which has left the Premier of Quebec scrambling the find an alternative. He could pick a fight with Canada’s federal government, but that has been done so many times that people don’t pay much attention anymore. He needs a new enemy to distract attention from his unpopularity.

Which may be why he has announced his intention to introduce legislation banning public prayer. He figures it is a winner, so he’s willing to override the constitution if necessary to ensure the law will stand.

Until the announcement, you wouldn’t have known that public prayer was a problem. There have been no gangs of pious people roaming the streets of Montreal forcing passersby to their knees to acknowledge their creator. Praying people are not a public nuisance, or at least not in any reports I have read.

But prayer is contrary to Quebec’s vaunted beliefs, or at least the Premier says so. The only permissible religious expression is secularism. Which is in itself a religion, though Francois Legault won’t admit that

It seems somewhat ironic that what was once the most religious society in North America now glories in its lack of belief. Is that something that has contributed to the decline of Quebec society? The government doesn’t want to study that.

Quebec will have an election soon. Rather than defend its record, Legault and his Liberal party will focus on the threats to society caused by people praying in public. I suppose he figures that since crating a false narrative worked for Donald Trump, it will work for him too.

A decade ago, I would have said the Quebec public are too smart to fall for that. Now I am not so sure.