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BREAKING: Bill 21 to be challenged in the Supreme Court of Canada

The case of the English Montreal School Board vs. the Attorney General of Quebec will go forward.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced this morning that it will hear the EMSB’s challenge to Quebec secularism law Bill 21. The law bars public sector employees in positions of authority (including teachers) from wearing religious symbols.

In Feb. 2024, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that Bill 21 is constitutional. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at that time that, should a Supreme Court challenge go forward, the federal government would intervene “to protect the rights and freedoms of Canadians.”

Though the law was upheld by the Quebec Superior Court following a challenge in April 2021, provisions relating to English school boards and a ban on face coverings for MNAs were struck down. The Quebec government appealed the ruling on English school boards, with Premier François Legault saying, “We fully respect the rights of the English-speaking minority, but secularism and Quebec’s common values have no language barrier.” English schools had to abide by Bill 21 pending the conclusion of the government’s appeal, but their exemption from the law was overturned in last year’s ruling.

The earlier ruling also acknowledged that the law violates the rights of Muslim women and is “cruel” towards people who wear religious symbols and are forced to choose between their beliefs and their ability to work in the public sector.

In order to pass Bill 21 in 2019, the Quebec government invoked the notwithstanding clause, meaning the law couldn’t be challenged on the grounds that it violated basic rights according to certain sections of the charter.

The Supreme Court typically takes four months to decide whether to allow a case to proceed, but took twice as long to deliver today’s decision.

No date has been set for the start of proceedings.

CAQ Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette has released a statement on the impending challenge to Bill 21.

“One thing is certain: the Quebec government will fight to the end to defend the law on state secularism.”

Bill 21 to be challenged in the Supreme Court of Canada

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