(CBC) English-language school boards argued before the Quebec Court of Appeal Wednesday they should be exempt from Quebec’s secularism law — known as Bill 21 — because religious diversity is part of the cultural heritage of English schools in Quebec.
“The examples are countless as to the way religious diversity is celebrated in English schools. It’s part of the schools’ DNA,” Perri Ravon, lawyer for the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), told the court.
“The province must respect fundamental rights and freedoms when it legislates education,” Ravon said.
Enacted under the Coalition Avenir Québec government in 2019, Bill 21 prohibits public school teachers, police officers, government lawyers, a host of other civil servants and even some politicians from wearing religious symbols at work.
