The board of the Montreal English School is seeking permission to appeal the Bill 21 decision to the Supreme Court

MONTREAL – The English Montreal School Board says it will ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal a recent ruling upholding Quebec's secularization law, known as Bill 21.

Quebec's Court of Appeal ruled Bill 21 constitutional in February, overturning a lower court ruling that exempted English school boards from applying some key elements of the law.

A 2019 law prohibits public sector workers, including teachers, judges and police officers, from wearing religious symbols at work.

The school board challenged the law on the grounds that it violated the language rights and gender equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Although the board was initially successful in getting exemptions from some of the law's provisions, including a ban on hiring teachers who wear religious symbols, Quebec's supreme court reversed that decision.

The school board said its board of commissioners voted April 10 to ask the law firm for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 11, 2024.

Canadian Press