Canada is a mosaic of so many cultures and traditions. For a Black Muslim woman and law graduate in Montreal, there are many challenges. Idil Issa is sharing her journey amid Ramadan and International Women’s Day.
“I kind of always view Black History Month and Women’s Day as a continuation. I always view it as one leading into the other. You kind of, there’s special focus on the history of Black people in February and there’s special focus on the history of women in March. And Ramadan is very much a time for reflection,” said Idil Issa, Montreal law graduate and community activist.
Born in Winnipeg, Issa attended high school in Toronto, following which she lived in Qatar, Malaysia, and South Africa as a communications specialist.
She returned to Montreal in 2016 and recently graduated from McGill Law School. She ran for the NDP in the 2025 Federal elections and municipally for Movement Montréal in 2021.
“So up until now, my focus really has been on the well-being of Muslim women in Quebec. So that’s my primary loyalty, I guess you could say. But then as a Black Muslim woman, that adds another layer,” said Issa.
As a Black Muslim woman, Issa is concerned about laws passed by the Legault government. Bill 21 prohibits public servants in positions of authority from wearing visible religious symbols while on the job.
Bill 94 was adopted to strengthen Bill 21 and extend the ban to all staff in public schools, including support staff, lunch monitors, and volunteers. It also prohibits school employees and students from having their faces covered.
Bill 9 further expands secularism, prohibiting religious symbols for workers in subsidized daycares and private schools.
It also seeks to ban prayer rooms in public schools, restrict religious-based menus, and ban public, non-authorized prayer in public spaces
“Before Bill 21, were many people familiar with the notwithstanding laws? It was a very seldom used provision within our constitution, very rarely used. But it’s something that lawyers would be familiar with, constitutional lawyers. I do feel that there are minorities being targeted by these successive laws. And I do feel there is a political element to it. I don’t think it’s just to resolve a problem within society,” said Issa.
“I do think these laws are being used as political capital to help win elections. I think it’s psychological warfare because the successive nature of each of these bills and how it’s kind of chasing women out of the workforce has a psychological effect on Muslim women in Quebec. It has a knock-on effect in the private sector as well. It chills the work environment, the employment market for Muslim women. So I think beyond the concrete job losses, it also has a psychological effect on Muslim women in Quebec in that it’s telling them you’re not welcome here. And this lack of welcome is state-sanctioned.”
Issa credits her mom with helping shape her into the woman she is today.
“My mother is somebody who taught me about justice, doing the right thing even when it’s not convenient. She fought legal battles when she was very young in the defense of justice for personal matters that she, as a young woman, felt she needed to sort out through legal channels. And so she’s a fighter and she kind of imparted that to me,” Issa explained.
“At the end of the day, Quebec is richer for it. I think it’s better if we embrace different cultures and we try to understand the perspectives of different cultures; we don’t kind of stereotype them and reduce them to stereotypes. Yeah, because the alternative is relying on stereotypes, those stereotypes being wrong, and us losing talent that we really need. We need more teachers. We need more daycare workers. We need we need manpower. So I think relying on stereotypes is really hurting us in the long run.”
