Last Updated: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 | 5:28 PM ET

CBC News

Soccer could build bridges between different cultures in Quebec, a provincial commission on immigration was told Wednesday. The world's most popular sport is a way to bring people together even if they have different religious beliefs, said Joseph Morelli, a physical education teacher in Joliette, Quebec. "We all have the same objective — just to put the ball in the net, and everybody who participates in the sport can go get something out of it. There's no colour or language barrier through all of that," Morelli said at public hearings Wednesday. He spoke at the Bouchard-Taylor commission, which is studying the issue of the so-called reasonable accommodation of immigrants in Quebec. Morelli said he's seen immigrant families come together with Québécois families on soccer pitches to learn the game and have fun. Soccer is a special sport because it is so cheap to play and so universally accessible, he said. Politicians should keep that in mind, to "make sure that [it] finances all sports, not only sports that they perceive as being the Canadian identity sports, like American football or hockey," he said. Wednesday was the first time the topic of sports has come up at the hearings, which are travelling across the province to talk to Quebecers about religious and cultural differences. The commission also heard from a Hasidic Quebecer Wednesday, the first time an Orthodox Jew has participated in the hearings. Shalom-Charles Delmar of Joliette, which is located about 50 kilometres north of the eastern tip of Montreal Island, told the hearings that his experience in Quebec has been mostly positive and that he enjoys his work with immigrant families. But he's concerned about the tone of comments surfacing at the hearings. "I think that there is a lot of intolerance and ignorance," he said. Delmar, who immigrated to Quebec from Morocco decades ago, said that Hasidic communities keep to themselves but are happy to answer questions about their beliefs. He praised the Bouchard-Taylor Commission for forcing Quebecers to confront their true feelings about others. "I think the commission will be the spark, waking up the minds of people," he told CBC.

Mise à jour le mercredi 26 septembre 2007 à 13 h 32

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Le code de conduite adopté par la municipalité d'Hérouxville a refait surface à la Commission de consultation sur les pratiques d'accommodement reliées aux différences culturelles, mercredi, à Joliette. Des gens sont venus dire que les pratiques religieuses doivent rester dans la vie privée. Le président de la Table des aînés de Lanaudière, Michel Haguette, a notamment plaidé « qu'un immigrant qui arrive au Québec doit s'intégrer et ne pas chercher à reproduire la structure de la culture de son pays ». « Les Québécois, a-t-il dit, auraient intérêt à dire et à écrire qui ils sont. Et les immigrants pourraient alors faire leur choix en fonction de ce qui est proclamé dans ce document », a déclaré M. Haguette qui a présenté le fameux code de vie d'Hérouxville comme un bon exemple. La présidente de la Société nationale des Québécois de Lanaudière, Louise Plante, s'est aussi à sa façon portée à la défense du code de conduite d'Hérouxville. Cette initiative a beaucoup été dénigrée, dit-elle, mais l'intention des élus municipaux était louable selon elle et visait à établir des balises en matière d'accommodement. Mme Plante affirme aussi déceler dans la population une peur de la montée de toutes les formes d'intégrisme. Un enseignant d'origine italienne Joseph Morelli est venu quant à lui rappeler à la commission que Joliette est une circonscription qui est passée aux mains de l'Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) lors des dernières élections provinciales. Très critique à l'endroit de l'ADQ dans son mémoire, M. Morelli a tout de même tenu, dans une certaine mesure, à remercier le chef du parti, Mario Dumont, pour la création de cette commission. Un autre intervenant, un père de famille de 37 ans, Alain Chouinard, a demandé qu'on ne fasse pas d'accommodement pour les groupes religieux dans les institutions publiques. Il a cité quelques exemples: pas de changement de menus dans les cafétérias, pas de voile islamique à l'école, pas de séparation de garçons et filles dans les piscines publiques.

FTR: SOCCER REASONABLE ACCOMM. Duration: 00:01:03

A phys-ed teacher thinks Quebec may have dropped the ball on an obvious solution to its cultural-diversity debate. Joseph Morelli says that soccer could help Quebecers of all walks of life get along a little better. Earlier today, Mr. Morelli appeared before the Quebec Commission on the reasonable accommodation of cultural diversity -- also known as the Bouchard-Taylor commission, in Joliette. The commission is looking at how to accommodate religious and cultural differences. Mr. Morelli told the commission that soccer is the most popular sport in the world -- a unifying factor for many immigrants to Canada. For the record, here is some of what he had to say.

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