After almost two years of waiting, the legal victory is important for the Quebec government: Thursday February 29, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the constitutionality of the law on state secularism – known as law 21 – and validated its application in English-speaking school boards. The text states that the province is a “Secular state” and prohibits prosecutors, police officers, teachers and other civil servants from displaying any religious symbol in the exercise of their profession. A “grandfather” clause, however, allows agents already in office to be able to wear a veil, a yarmulke, a Christian cross or even a Sikh turban.
In their verdict, the magistrates of the highest court in the province judge that the law does not violate the linguistic rights of English-speaking schools, thus invalidating the exemption introduced in 2021, during a first and long trial before the superior court of Quebec . The judges, on the other hand, confirmed the exclusion of deputies of the National Assembly from its application: elected officials will therefore be able to display ostentatious religious symbols.
Facing the press on Thursday, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault (Coalition Avenir Québec, center right), declared that this was a “great victory for the Quebec nation”. Because, since its adoption in June 2019, Law 21 has been under fire from criticism. Among the opponents of the text, notably the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, some saw it as further discrimination against the Muslim community. The symbolic removal, in July 2019, of the crucifix suspended since 1936 in the “Blue Room” (nickname of the National Assembly room) did not silence the critics.
“A big victory”
The Quebec Court of Appeal was seized by the government of François Legault following the decision rendered at first instance in April 2021. The judge of the superior court then validated Law 21 in its vast majority, even if he noted that she “has significant inhibiting effects and seriously infringes on the rights to freedom of conscience and religion”. But, above all, the magistrate issued this famous exemption to elected representatives of the National Assembly and to English-speaking schools. It was the latter which provoked anger in the ranks of François Legault’s coalition. The Prime Minister then denounced a decision “illogical” which risked splitting Quebec in two, English-speaking on one side, French-speaking on the other.
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