Montreal school board to ask Supreme Court to hear appeal of Quebec secularism law
CTV
The debate over the constitutionality of Quebec's secularism law is poised to go to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The debate over the constitutionality of Quebec's secularism law is poised to go to the Supreme Court of Canada.
On Wednesday evening, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) voted in favour of asking Canada's top court to rule on Bill 21 after a Feb. 29 Quebec Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the law.
In a unanimous decision, the province's highest court upheld the law that prohibits public sector workers in positions of authority — including teachers, judges, and police officers — from wearing religious symbols on the job. The National Council of Canadian Muslims was one of many groups that had intervenor status in the previous legal challenge of the law.
The ruling was a blow to the EMSB, Quebec's largest English-language public school board, which had previously been exempted from the law after a ruling by the Superior Court of Quebec.
Commissioner Pietro Mercuri said at Wednesday's meeting the board's vote was an important history lesson about standing up for fundamental rights.
"History has shown that when governments denied people jobs in positions based on how they look, how they dress due to their faith, it's only a precursor for even worse things to come," he said.
"Bill 21 excludes people from obtaining certain jobs in positions based on what they wear according to their faith. Not continuing a fight against Bill 21, Mr. Chairman, in my opinion, is a profound disrespect against previous generations who have fought to protect people who have been marginalized and made to feel unwanted by their government."
