The Supreme Court of Canada is just a few weeks away from hearing the challenge to Quebec’s controversial secularism law known as Bill 21.
For five days, beginning on March 23, Canada’s highest court will hear from teachers, civil rights and religious groups challenging the law
The challenge is being brought by the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), which argues the legislation is discriminatory and makes it harder to hire teachers by banning public-school employees from wearing religious symbols.
The Quebec government invoked the notwithstanding clause when it adopted the law in 2019, shielding it from parts of the Canadian and Quebec charters.
But the EMSB says the legislation still violates Section 23 of the Canadian Charter, which protects the rights of the English-language minority to manage its own school system.
Lower courts largely upheld the law. The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether it can stand.
In defence of the law, the court will hear from Quebec’s attorney general, ministers Jean-François Roberge and Simon Jolin-Barrette, as well as groups that promote secularism in Quebec.
At the centre of the case is the use of the notwithstanding clause, Section 33 of the Charter, and how far governments can go in overriding certain rights.
