But those challenges came anyway, and now the government and groups opposing the law are challenging a 2021 Quebec Supreme Court ruling that upheld most of the law before the Quebec Court of Appeal. Finally, whether at home, at school or on online platforms, education on religious symbols is crucial to combat the xenophobic nature of Bill 21. Many supporters of the law do not know what religious symbols such as the hijab, dastar, niqab or kippah mean to those who wear them. Religious minorities maintain that they are divinely commanded in their faith and that they are acts of worship of their Creator. Therefore, learning the true meaning and nature of these symbols is crucial in the fight against racism and xenophobia, which can be achieved simply by talking to women who wear the hijab, men and women who wear dastar, men who wear the kippah and women who wear hoods or headscarves. Bill 21 incorporates a recommendation from the 2008 Bouchard-Taylor Report (see Bouchard-Taylor Commission). First of all, Quebec`s secularism must be affirmed. It formalized the ban on the wearing of religious symbols by officials in positions of authority (such as police officers and judges). The government has decided to go even further and involve teachers in the public sector. Those who were employed before the law was passed were grandfathered in this regard. New research shows that three years after the passage of Quebec`s secularism law – commonly known as Bill 21 – the province`s religious minorities are feeling increasingly alienated and hopeless. While the majority agree on the meaning of a secular state (i.e., the separation of church and state), the definition of secularism differs from group to group.
Some speak of open secularism: that is, a model of secularism that allows the presence of religion in the public sphere, as long as it respects the rights and freedoms of other citizens. On the other hand, closed secularism advocates strict religious neutrality in the public sphere. The new law ostensibly rests on four principles: the religious neutrality of the state; separation of religion and state; equality of all citizens; and freedom of conscience and religion. Perhaps more importantly, Bill 21 seeks to amend the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, the quasi-constitutional provincial law to which all Quebec laws must conform and which itself is subordinate only to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Although the Quebec Charter guarantees freedom of religion, its preamble will now include a statement affirming the “fundamental importance” of the state`s secularism. Taylor was also surprised that the poll showed that Quebecers care a lot about what the courts have to say about Bill 21. Legault said minorities should see Quebec as a welcoming place that “has decided, for all sorts of reasons, that secularism is important.” When Bill 21 was passed, Ms. Jolin-Barrette said it would allow “a harmonious transition to secularism” for Quebec. Jolin-Barrette portrayed Quebecers as united in support of the bill and accused critics of trying to divide Quebecers.
But the bill is about politics in Quebec. You don`t need a degree in political science to understand that this is a clever political maneuver by Premier François Legault that allows him to consolidate his nationalist credentials and pull the rug out from under the Parti Québécois. Whatever the court`s decision, Legault wins. If the court expresses its dissatisfaction with both the bill and the use of the reservation clause, Legault will predictably respond: “I told you so. English Canada does not include Quebec. We were right to invoke the reservation clause. If the court decides that Bill 21 is indeed consistent with the Charter, then it is a total discharge. Legault wins again. Read more: Quebec`s religious minorities feel less safe because of the secularism law known as Bill 21: poll The adoption of Bill 21 in Quebec was part of the recent debate on secularism that has lasted for more than a decade. From the debate on reasonable accommodation in 2007 (see Bouchard-Taylor Commission) to Bill 62 and the Quebec Charter of Values, the issue of religious practice in the public space has been the subject of heated debate.
“It`s one thing to say, `You know what, I`m getting a lot of unfair treatment because I`m not understood,`” Taylor said. It`s another thing to project yourself forward and have no hope for your children. So why would “just” Quebecers who consider themselves tolerant support the law? A history lesson is appropriate. Until the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960s, which took education out of the hands of the Catholic Church, French Quebec was effectively a theocracy, “this province plagued by priests.” Almost all Quebécois of an older generation, especially women, have a horror story about how the church has affected their lives. For the politically conscious Quebécois, the liberation of the province from the clutches of the Church was a necessary step on the path to modernity, to the construction of a secular, more egalitarian society, freed from the evils of superstition. Among the visible changes brought about by the Silent Revolution was the transformation of teachers, as the nuns of the old orders of education exchanged their religious habits for more modern clothes. David Rand wrote in a CBC News column that the bill was a positive step forward in ensuring the state`s religious neutrality. He explained that religion in Quebec culture is a private matter and that members of the public service must be neutral in the workplace. Similar to existing laws that prohibit employees from wearing partisan symbols at work.
Bill 21 extends the principle to religious symbols. It does not prohibit religious believers from holding government jobs, but only excludes their religious symbols when they hold positions of authority and only when they work.