Quebec City –
With the appeal of the province’s secularism law possibly ending up before the Supreme Court of Canada, Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette says he intends to defend it “to the bitter end” and urges the federal government to “mind its own business.”
“We’ll always defend the secular nature of the State because in Quebec the State and religions are distinct (…) And we’ll be very clear: we’ll never compromise on the subject,” said the minister during a press scrum at the National Assembly on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) said it would take the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision on Bill 21 to the highest court, arguing that it is discriminatory.
In April 2021, the Superior Court largely upheld the validity of the law, which prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by government employees in positions of authority, including judges, police officers and teachers.
However, it exempted English-language school boards from the ban.
Last February, the Court of Appeal overturned the Superior Court’s decision, stating that the law did not violate the linguistic rights of English-language school boards.
It also validated the preventive use of the notwithstanding clause.
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 11, 2024.