Minority groups in Quebec should be concerned after Bill 21 ruling, says anglo group
While some celebrated after Bill 21 was upheld on Thursday, the Quebec Court of Appeal decision sparked concern for minority groups in the province.
"I think all minorities should be worried about the ruling yesterday," said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, the director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network, in an interview Friday.
Martin-Laforge says the ruling sets a dangerous precedent.
"It means that the government can pass any bill, like Bill 96, that ignores our fundamental human rights without fear that the courts can overturn them."
Bill 21 bans public sector workers in positions of authority, such as police officers, judges and teachers, from wearing religious symbols on the job. The 290-page decision also overturned a previous ruling that exempted English school boards from the law.
"I'm very disappointed," said Fatemeh Anvari, who was removed from her teaching job in Chelsea, Que. in 2021 for wearing a hijab. She told CTV News on Thursday that she feels like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to all Canadians equally.
"When I saw, you know, my colleagues in the school who were teaching their classes, I couldn't help but think that I am deprived of that right only because of how I choose to dress," she said.
"It's very disappointing to see, like I said, so many people in Quebec who are affected by this. So many people have said this is affecting us emotionally, affecting our sense of belonging, how we feel within Quebec, within Canada, our identities. It's been really sad, honestly."
Benoit Pelletier, a distinguished law professor at the University of Ottawa, says rights and liberties should be respected and hopes the ruling doesn't lead to an increase in the use of the notwithstanding clause.
"There is a price to pay, politically speaking, for using the notwithstanding clause. The price is not very evident in Quebec, I must admit, because governments who use it are more popular," Pelletier said.
Quebec Premier François Legault reacted to the ruling again on Friday.
"I think right now, the majority of Quebecers agree to forbid the religious signs for teachers, for police people, for judges, for prison guards, so I think it's reasonable," he told reporters. "It's a lot less than what we have, for example, in France, and I think because there's a consensus within Quebecers, it would be a lack of respect to oppose this law that is accepted by the majority of Quebecers."
While some say Thursday's decision could have an impact on other court challenges over the preemptive use of the clause, like Bill 96, Pelletier says there are two provisions that are not subjected to the application of the notwithstanding clause
"Interpretation of the Court of Appeal yesterday in the case of Bill 21 with regards to the notwithstanding clause might not be applicable in the case of the court challenges of Bill 96," he said.
The English Montreal School Board says it will take the time to review the decision before deciding on an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Other groups have vowed to keep fighting but Pelletier says he has no doubt the case will end up in front of Canada's highest court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.