this muslim guy is seeking an american concept of secularism, as articulated most famously by thomas jefferson. the americans sought to prevent christian denominations from oppressing each other, and were mostly reacting to the wars of the post-reformation period in europe. american settlers were overwhelmingly protestant. american secularism is about preventing the state from interfering with "religious freedoms".
quebec is enforcing a french concept of secularism, which is the one i prefer and the one that i would seek be enforced through the rest of canada, that comes out of the french revolution and seeks to aggressively restrict religion from operating in society. this was as a reaction to the despotic rule of the catholic church in france, the overthrow of which was at the core of the french revolution. the french did not seek to prevent laws about religion, as the americans did, but rather sought to ensure that any sort of oppressive faith system could not enforce it's rules on the general population.
i would tell this muslim guy that if he wants american secularism, he should go to america. this is not america, and our laws are not jeffersonian in origin.