Bill 21 was a third-rail topic in the October 2019 Canadian federal election. The objection to Bill 21 is winding its way through the court system.
The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case over whether the ban on religious symbols should be suspended until the case is heard on its merits.
The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 not to hear the case to suspend the ban despite acknowledging that the secularism law was causing harm that may be serious and irreparable.
Quebec used the notwithstanding clause to implement Bill 21, which makes that case more difficult for the courts before the merits are weighed by justice.
Bill 21 has crossed my mind during the pandemic. Some in Quebec were freaked out over hijabs and niqabs where hair and faces are covered. Now we walk around a world where faces are covered thanks to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Teachers are a huge part of who is covered by Bill 21 but schools had been shut down. Quebec is opening up schools but in the lower grades with a delayed return in Montréal. School attendance is not required.
Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists: all of them and others are wearing face coverings. Some of them might be doing so for religious reasons. No one is chastising anyone for wearing face coverings during a pandemic.
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The majority of those in Quebec who fear religious coverings are people who almost would never see them. Now these people, mostly in rural Quebec, are seeing their neighbours with face coverings. The face coverings are for health, not religion. They are required in many areas.
Face coverings might be more popular even with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic subsides.
If Bill 21 survives the judicial challenge and people wear the face coverings, face coverings will be "okay" because they aren't "religious."
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The people of Montréal and, to a lesser extent, Quebec City don't generally care what their neighbours wear on their face or head. Sikh men (turbans) and Jewish men (yarmulkes) are also affected by Bill 21; somehow the hysteria became about face coverings on Muslim women. Encouraging people to wear a face covering and going after a niqab on a Muslim woman looks rather foolish.
For all the negativity about Bill 21, we get what Quebec wants to do. However, having the government say you can't wear something is almost as bad as requiring someone to wear something.
photo credit: CBC News
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