Quebec appeals Superior Court’s decision to nix parts of secularism law Justice minister says 'Quebec nation has made the choice of secularism'

June 4, 2021   

(CBC) Quebec’s attorney general filed a notice of appeal Friday regarding the Superior Court decision on April 20, which upheld most, but not all, of the province’s controversial secularism law enacted under the Coalition Avenir Québec government.

In that ruling, Justice Marc-André Blanchard declared that the most contentious parts of the law — the religious symbols ban for many government employees — can’t be applied to English school boards.

The desire of English school boards to foster diversity by choosing who they hire is protected by the minority-language education rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Blanchard said in his decision.

Blanchard also ruled that members of the province’s National Assembly can’t be forced to provide services to the public with their faces uncovered.

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