(CBC) Quebec’s new law on religious symbols has been on the books for less than 24 hours, but already opposition is being mounted on several fronts, both in the courts and on the streets.
The law was rammed through the legislature late Sunday night by the Coalition Avenir Québec government. It will bar public school teachers, police officers and government lawyers — among other civil servants in positions of authority — from wearing religious symbols while at work.
By Monday morning, the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association had filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court seeking an injunction and asking that the law be declared invalid.
“Quite simply, last night the Quebec government legalized religious discrimination,” Mustafa Farooq, the head of the Muslim advocacy group, told reporters on the steps of the Montreal courthouse.
