Secularism is an ideology that supports the separation of Church and State, and considers religious life to belong in the private sphere. This perspective considers religion to be a personal matter that should not influence society’s public institutions.
Secularists want the Church to be separate from the government. They believe that public institutions should be non-denominational, meaning that they are not governed by the clergy. At that time, the Church was involved in both education and healthcare.
Artists and intellectuals were among those who criticized traditional values. Paul-Émile Borduas, a painter, published the Refus global manifesto with a group of artists in 1948. Their manifesto criticized Quebec society as culturally backwards and considered the Church to be responsible for this. Young intellectuals also founded the magazine Cité Libre which criticized traditional values of the time.