Bill 21: Institutionalized Religious Discrimination
Eleven years after the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodations advocated adopting a state secularism legislation in Québec, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government passed Bill 21 in June 2019. The bill prevents public servants in positions of authority, including teachers, police officers and judges, from wearing religious symbols such as the kippah, turban, or hijab while at work. Minority rights groups are challenging the legislation and have recently gained the attention of the federal government. The provincial government made its case by saying that the legislation is a “logical continuation of the Quiet Revolution,” a period of socio-political change that resulted in the effective secularization of the government. However, critics consider the new law highly discriminatory, and unethically targeting Muslim women.
Though the bill theoretically applies to all religious groups, community organizations and civil rights groups raised their concern that Muslim women who wear scarves or veils will be affected disproportionally. As veiling has been a major tradition in the Islamic culture, the legislation creates an ethical dilemma: forcing Muslim women to either compromise their cultural and religious practices or their livelihoods.
Islamophobic violence has already been on the rise in Canada, especially in Québec, with lukewarm acknowledgement. Following the Québec City Mosque attack on January 29, 2017, attacks against the Muslim population in Québec have tripled and police-reported general hate crimes rose by 50% that year, reaching an all-time high. In 2019, Muslims were reported to be the main victims of hate-motivated crimes in Montreal with nearly 60% of all religion-based hate crimes reported targeting them. The new legislation could encourage further intolerance and alienation of Muslims who were well integrated in the society.
The Québec government invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which allows provincial authorities to override for a period of five years certain sections of the Charter. In this case, the government overrode the clause pertaining to freedom of expression and that to wearing of religious symbols by civil servants. As the bill has been criticized for disregarding “fundamental freedoms” of individuals, which includes freedom of conscience and religion, there has been talks of federal intervention. Justin Trudeau has recently responded by saying: “we are not closing the door to a possible intervention because it would be irresponsible for a federal government to choose to shut the door on a matter of fundamental rights.” Federal leaders need to find the moral courage to fight against this legislation, which not only institutionalizes discrimination, but also disregards the fundamental rights of their country’s residents.