We mentioned Bill 21 a few times during the Canadian election season, mostly for the leaders who were reluctant to stand up for minority rights in La Belle Province. The argument has been that Bill 21 is going through the judicial process.
Manitoba decided to get involved.
Bill 21 prohibits certain workers for the province (lawyers, teachers, police) from wearing religious symbols (hijabs, yarmulkes) on their person while at work.
The Brian Pallister government in Manitoba ran newspaper and digital ads in Quebec to lure French-speaking people to come live in Manitoba. The ad lists 21 reasons to match the number on Bill 21. The Winnipeg Jets, affordable housing, the largest French population west of Ontario, and microbreweries were some of the reasons. The primary reason: being able to wear religious symbols.
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Pallister says Manitoba has a shortage of bilingual employees in some areas of its civil service. Manitoba has a number of French-speaking areas, especially St. Boniface in Winnipeg.
"I think this money would have been better spent for French services in Manitoba. And I think Mr. Pallister should work to keep his own people in Manitoba, like Dustin Byfuglien with the Jets," replied Quebec Premier Francois Legault. Byfuglien was suspended by the Winnipeg Jets after not reporting to training camp.
"Rights and freedoms of Canadians should be everyone's business," Pallister told Vassy Kapelos on CBC's Power & Politics. The NDP opposition in Manitoba is on board. "Any policy, any legislation, any ruling that is based upon how you look or what faith you practise, is not right," said NDP heritage critic Diljeet Brar in the assembly.
The media did a pretty good job of conveying the impact of Bill 21 before the bill became law. Unfortunately, since the bill has been implemented, the Canadian media have dropped the ball on how the bill currently impacts Quebecers.
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Even if you don't put much hope in the Manitoba drive, a move by a Progressive Conservative government finally got the press to spend a bit of time on Bill 21. People's lives are being dramatically altered and somehow those people aren't worth covering in the eyes of Canadian media.
"People's lives are being ruined. People are being forced to leave their professions. People are being forced to leave this province," Catherine McKenzie, a lawyer representing civil rights groups, told the Quebec Court of Appeal late last month.
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Justin Trudeau was the only viable politician to form government who even mentioned the idea of a court challenge of Bill 21. Trudeau's confrontation with Jagmeet Singh on the topic during the final French language debate was worth further mention but that got lost in the Canadian election cycle.
We have made several points during the campaign about the timidity of federal party leaders on Bill 21. There was the concern over lost votes in Quebec. Brian Pallister and Manitoba don't have to be afraid. The question is why the Canadian media is as afraid as Andrew Scheer and Jagmeet Singh.
The story gets lost in English Canada because this law is in French Canada. The argument is specious at best since all rights apply across the board in Canada and also applies to Quebec.
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Legault says Bill 21 is "a decision to be taken by Quebecers and Quebecers only" and isn't the business of anyone else. That will literally be for the courts to decide. In the meantime, Bill 21 has impacted negatively the lives of Canadians. The impact is highly newsworthy.
Those who speak French in Quebec who are impacted by Bill 21 have many places to go in Canada. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada. There are French-speaking places scattered all over Canada, especially Ontario, Alberta, and oui, Manitoba. Likely, they will want to stay in Quebec but without Bill 21.
photo credit: Global News
video credit: Power & Politics/CBC News
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