Quebec refers to “social peace” despite the secularism clause

On Thursday, the Quebec government passed legislation to continue protecting the province's secularism law — known as Bill 21 — from legal challenges it claims violates the Charter.

The application of the constitution's notwithstanding clause for another five years is necessary to maintain “social peace” in the province, Minister in charge of Secularism Jean-Francois Roberge told reporters.

Bill 21 was passed in June 2019 and prohibits government officials deemed to be in positions of authority, including teachers, police officers and judges, from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab, turban or kippah while on the job. This law has caused outrage among religious minorities in Canada. Challenges to the legislation are now in the province's highest court, but lawyers have been limited in their arguments.

Roberge called Bill 21 a very important achievement. “It currently, I would say, maintains social peace, promotes coexistence. That is why we must update this clause,” he said.

However, a clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that shields legislation from challenges of violating the Charter stipulates that laws can be applied for five years, after which the government must renew them.

According to Roberge, Bill 21 “provided very important clarifications to the government, to educational institutions, to municipalities, to the courts, to the police, about what can and cannot be done, about the way reasonable accommodation requests are handled.”

Both the Quebec government and anti-Bill 21 groups are challenging an April 2021 Supreme Court ruling that largely upheld the controversial legislation but struck down rules on English-language school boards and a ban on face coverings for members of the provincial legislature. Seventeen separate parties are opposing the law. The Quebec Court of Appeal heard arguments for and against the law in November 2022 and has yet to rule.

The official opposition Liberals oppose the extension of the clause, saying there is no reason to suspend basic freedoms. “The regardless clause … is so broad that it suspends fundamental rights and freedoms that are not covered by Bill 21,” said interim Liberal leader Mark Tanguay.

But the Avenir Quebec coalition has a majority government, and the other two opposition parties, the Parti Québécois and Quebec Solaire, also support the extension of the clause.

PQ member Pascal Bérubé told reporters Thursday that his party not only likes Bill 21, but believes it should be expanded to include daycare workers.

Meanwhile, Quebec Representative Gabrielle Nadeau-Dubois, while her party does not support Bill 21, does not believe the legislation should be struck down because it violates the Canadian Constitution. The law, he said, needs to be changed by the Quebec legislature.

“It's a bad law for Quebec, but it's a debate that has to take place in Quebec, it has to be decided by Quebec's institutions and statutes,” Nadeau-Dubois said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 8, 2024.