Montreal officially replaces city hall welcome sign that included woman wearing hijab – Montreal [Video]

The City of Montreal has officially taken down a welcome sign that stirred controversy last fall because it depicted a woman wearing an Islamic headscarf.

The sign in the lobby of the newly renovated city hall, which showed a woman wearing a hijab, drew criticism online, prompting Mayor Valérie Plante to commit to taking it down in the name of secularism.

In the image, which is in the style of a pencil sketch, the woman is standing between two men — one who seems younger and is wearing a baseball cap and overcoat, and an older man with his hands crossed in front of him.

“Welcome to Montreal City Hall!” is written in French above them.

The image also drew complaints from Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who …