Interim Liberal leader Pierre Arcand accused Francois Legault of being "unfit to be the premier" of Quebec, as opposition parties continue to hammer the CAQ over Bill 21, the planned law to restrict the wearing of religious symbols by public employees.

The claim led to lots of grumbling and heated reactions in the National Assembly, and forcing the Speaker of the House to intervene.

The Liberal Party has been questioning the government not only over the bill, but also the plan to invoke closure on debate and to ram the bill through the National Assembly before the end of the session.

"I think that Mr. Legault is trying to use his majority to, I don't know if it's the right expression, but to bulldoze the parliament,” said Arcand.

Arcand and Liberal secularism critic Helene David said on Thursday that the CAQ's timeline and strategy was unrealistic, because it left just five weeks to hold parliamentary hearings and to debate a bill that violates the constitution.

“I think that, the government, in many laws that they have that are right now on the parliamentary commission is really basically saying to opposition members: ‘Well, you know, you have to rush more. We have to do it faster. I mean what kind of government is this?’" Arcand added.

Legault said that the debate over religious accommodation in Quebec has been taking place for more than a decade, and that it's time to end the talk and take action.

"I know that right now the population is divided so that's why our interest of the social peace in Quebec is to make sure that we can adopt this bill as soon as possible and then work on healthcare, education and the economy," said Legault.

Legault added that he believes Bill 21 is a reasonable proposal, even though many analysts -- including Charles Taylor, who toured Quebec a decade ago to discuss reasonable accommodations -- disagree.

The premier is facing accusations by Arcand of trying to split Anglophones and Francophones and to highlight differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

“I think that the premier has been trying first of all to divide, because he's talking about Canadian values versus Quebec values,” he said.

The CAQ government is pointing to a recent Leger poll, commissioned by the party itself, that indicates 43% of Anglophones support Bill 21.

“It's false for us to believe that the whole English community speaks in one voice on this,” said Christopher Skeete, the CAQ’s secretary responsible for Quebec's English-speaking community.

Skeete suggests there's far more nuance, despite a perception Anglophones don't back the bill.

“What I'm trying to say is that the English community, like the French community, has divergent opinions on everything, and the English community is not united in one monolithic block opposed to this initiative,” he said.