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- 80 -of Quebec (C.C.Q., preliminary provision). In a private law context, the observance ofreligious rites often affects a number of aspects of social existence; it is accordinglyimperative to consider the importance of the rites and of the requirements of security,public order and the general well-being of citizens as they relate to them.B. The Applicable Test Under Section 9.1 of the Quebec Charter in the Context ofPrivate Legal Relationships2004 SCC 47 (CanLII)147 Section 9.1 of the Quebec Charter reads as follows:9.1. In exercising his fundamental freedoms and rights, a person shallmaintain a proper regard for democratic values, public order and the generalwell-being of the citizens of Québec.In this respect, the scope of the freedoms and rights, and limits to theirexercise, may be fixed by law.148 In Ford v. Quebec (Attorney General), [1988] 2 S.C.R. 712, this Court hadoccasion to rule on the meaning of s. 9.1 of the Quebec Charter in a public law context.At p. 770 of that unanimous decision, the Court wrote the following:The first paragraph of s. 9.1 speaks of the manner in which a person mustexercise his fundamental freedoms and rights. That is not a limit on theauthority of government but rather does suggest the manner in which thescope of the fundamental freedoms and rights is to be interpreted. Thesecond paragraph of s. 9.1, however — “In this respect, the scope of thefreedoms and rights, and limits to their exercise, may be fixed by law” —does refer to legislative authority to impose limits on the fundamentalfreedoms and rights. [Emphasis added.]149 It would appear from this passage that the second paragraph of s. 9.1 appliesto legislative action, while the first serves rather as an interpretive tool for private lawrelationships. Since Ford, supra, dealt with public law issues, this Court did not have