March 13, 2023
Religious dress has long served to express faith and effectively practice moral code or belief. A crucifix may be an attestation to the Christian faith, or it may offer protection from evil. Wearing a turban could signify a commitment to serve in Sikhism. A hijab may demonstrate modesty in Islam. These articles have centuries of history and symbolize important facets of faith. However, a territory has banned wearing all religious symbols for the first time in North American history [i]. This passed bill is an utter violation of supposedly promised religious freedom in the province of Quebec.
The government of the French-speaking Canadian province has historically made several efforts to uphold secularism. The separation of religion and state – laïcité – and the integration of secularism into the constitution connects to Quebec’s history since the Quiet Revolution [ii]. Lasting from 1960-1970, the Quiet Revolution resulted from the Catholic Church’s gradual overtaking of many aspects of the French-Canadian lifestyle. Eventually, the progression of women’s emancipation, their integration into the workforce, and growing rebellion towards patriarchal authority contrasted with the role of the Catholic Church in Quebec [ii]. During this time, Quebec affiliated itself more with the federal government by becoming a welfare state, and the Church’s substantial power began to diminish. The concept of laicity is based on the separation of state and religion, religious neutrality, citizens’ equality, and freedom of religion [iii]. Since then, Quebec’s pro-laicity stance has been firmly established.
With the intent of upholding this stance, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Quebec’s Laicity Act, also known as ‘Bill 21’, in 2019 [iii], venturing into the territory of infringement on the right to freedom of religion. The act states that displaying any religious symbols is forbidden for civil servants representative of the government authority. This law directly affects teachers in public schools, government lawyers, police officers, and many other government workers from wearing what is considered commonplace in areas outside the province. The religious articles Bill 21 prohibits may even be necessary for followers of the faith to wear, such as turbans.
The decision to put this bill into effect and apply it to this extent has had catastrophic consequences for numerous minorities across Quebec. Muslim women, as part of an intersection of groups historically prejudiced by the province, have been one of the most affected;“78 per cent said their feeling of being accepted […] had worsened over the last three years” [iv]. Many people of several minorities have seemingly no choice but to quit their jobs unless they removed all religious articles – or, as happened in Chelsea, Quebec, be removed from the classroom as a teacher for wearing a hijab [iv]. Racially motivated harassment and violence are also prominent – pedestrians are yanking religious articles off citizens, spitting on them, unreservedly giving death threats, and actively rejecting job applicants due to their rightful decision to follow their faith [iv].
The head of the province, Premier Francois Legault, defended the bill as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec: a nationalist, conservative political party that openly expressed support for this bill since their landslide elections victory into legislative power in 2018. Premier Legault argued that the law was quite similar to that of Belgium, France, or Germany, and to say this law is racist would imply that the other European nations are as well [i]. As the Bill garnered support after the CAQ was elected, numerous Quebec residents began fretting about acceptance in their community. Some Quebecers – about 63 percent – agreed that some civil professions need this legislation [i]. They agonized that Canada’s preference towards multiculturalism would effectively eradicate their identity as a French-speaking province [i]. While the claims of these Quebec residents stem from the traditional Québecois principles tied to its history, Bill 21 is an unrestrained attempt at discriminating against those that have the right to express part of their identity in public.
The passing of this bill has not gone without conflict, and some continue to protest it after its enactment. The official opposition in court at the time of its passing, the Quebec Liberal Party, strongly criticized Bill 21 for not considering the religious groups that the bill would be affected by [v]. Some have tried to argue that the Bill goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a set of liberties owed to each Canadian, but the ‘notwithstanding clause’ allows the bill to stand. The notwithstanding clause (Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) explains that provincial bodies may pass laws that violate the Charter for a period of five years. If this clause is utilized as a defense to justify the passing of Bill 21, then this is an acknowledgment that the laicity act violates the Charter and cannot be accepted by the general public. The public challenged this act repeatedly, including teachers, school boards, and associated unions. However, to the immense disappointment of many Quebec residents, the Quebec Court of Appeal still voted to uphold the bill supporting the laicity of the State [v].
Quebec’s Laicity Act has had an overwhelmingly negative impact on not just Quebec, but Canadian society. It must be repealed or revised to allow more freedom of expression. The very use of the law clashes with the Canadian image and national identity of being a ‘country of immigrants’, a ‘multinational country’ that prides itself on its immigrants and international culture. This is an issue of religious tolerance. In a country that prides itself on its immigrants and multinational identity, religious tolerance is necessary for Canadian and international communities alike to thrive. A fundamental level of respect and appreciation towards others once assumed to be self-evident has been permitted to wither away in the French province. In short, the Quebec Laicity Act is extremely harmful and needs to be amended to protect the basic rights of Quebecois Canadian citizens.
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[i] Kestler-D’Amours, Jillian. “What’s Behind Quebec’s Ban on Religious Symbols.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, July 16, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/quebec-bans-religious-symbols/593998/.
[ii] Warren, Jean-Philippe. “Secularism in Quebec.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia, November 26, 2020. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/secularism-in-quebec#:~:text=The%20Quiet%20Revolution%20(1960%E2%80%931970,by%20removing%20religion%20from%20institutions.
[iii] Ahmad, Tariq. “Canada: New Bill Prohibits Religious Symbols for Public-Sector Workers in Quebec.” Library of Congress. August 6, 2019. https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2019-08-06/canada-new-bill-prohibits-religious-symbols-for-public-sector-workers-in-quebec/#:~:text=Coalition%20Avenir%20Qu%C3%A9bec%20has%20stated,(Id.
[iv] Rukavina, Steve. “New research shows Bill 21 having ‘devastating’ impact on religious minorities in Quebec.” CBC. CBC News, August 4, 2022. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bill-21-impact-religious-minorities-survey-1.6541241.
[v] Souissi, Takwa. “Bill 21 (An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State).” The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encycopedia, December 17, 2021. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-21#:~:text=Bill%2021%20derives%20from%20a,as%20police%20officers%20and%20judges).
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