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Civil rights groups want to challenge Quebec religious symbols ban in Supreme Court Appeals Court last week rejected request for injunction on sections of Bill 21

December 18, 2019   

(CBC) Civil rights groups challenging Quebec’s controversial ban on religious symbols want to take their case to Canada’s top court. Quebec’s Court of Appeal last week rejected a request to suspend portions of the law, known as Bill 21, pending a ruling on its constitutionality. […]

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‘We will keep on fighting’: Muslim women devastated by Appeal Court decision to uphold Bill 21 Amal Sassi, who came to Quebec to pursue a teaching career, had hoped for a ruling allowing her to continue

December 12, 2019   

(CBC) Amal Sassi was counting on Quebec’s highest court to suspend the province’s controversial secularism law, so she kept her head buried in her books Thursday and focused on studying for her final exams. When she stepped out and heard the news that […]

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Quebec’s top court won’t suspend province’s religious symbols ban, but judges say rights being violated Province’s controversial Bill 21 passes major legal test; opponents vow to continue fight

December 12, 2019   

(CBC) Quebec’s Court of Appeal has refused to suspend the province’s controversial ban on religious symbols, even while acknowledging it causes “irreparable harm” to those affected. The province’s top court was ruling on a request to stay sections of the Laicity Act, or Bill 21, […]

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François Legault’s high-stakes game with the courts and Quebec’s secularism law Premier faces a test as supporters of the controversial Bill 21 question Quebec's chief justice

December 9, 2019   

(CBC) The stakes around Quebec’s secularism law have always been high, but somehow they’ve managed to become even higher in recent days. The law (Bill 21) has already altered the career choices of dozens, maybe hundreds, of aspiring public school teachers, prosecutors and police officers by […]

Academics & Education

Czech Supreme Court rules in favor of Somali girl barred from wearing hijab at Prague school The Czech Republic must accept and tolerate religious pluralism, and neither discriminate against any religion nor favour it unless it has a special reason, the court said

December 6, 2019   

(Expats.cz) A Somali girl who wanted to wear hijab at a Prague secondary nursing school but was banned to do so in 2013 had the right to wear it, the Czech Supreme Court ruled in its verdict that has been released on […]

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Dawson College professor accuses Quebec’s top judge of bias against Bill 21 Frédéric Bastien has filed formal complaint against Nicole Duval Hesler, chief justice of the Court of Appeal

December 2, 2019   

(CBC) A Quebec historian has launched a formal complaint against the chief justice of the province’s Court of Appeal over comments she made about the province’s religious symbols law. Frédéric Bastien, who teaches history at Dawson College, said taken together, Justice Nicole Duval […]

Children & Teens

Nigerian family facing deportation fear for their lives if sent back to Africa The Bakare family fled Nigeria out of fear their daughter would be subjected to female genital mutilation

November 30, 2019   

(CBC) Members of a Nigerian family living in Windsor say they fear for their lives as a result of media attention they’ve received after a deportation order previously issued by the Canadian government. Rasheedat Bakare, her husband Afeez, son Faaiq and daughter […]

Academics & Education

Amid political gamesmanship, some Quebec Muslim women enticed by offer to move to Manitoba 'Why wouldn't I go somewhere where I feel welcome?' asks one law student who wears a hijab

November 29, 2019   

(CBC) As a political spat plays out between Manitoba and Quebec over Bill 21, some Muslim women affected by the province’s ban on religious symbols say they are tempted by the offer to move to the Prairie province. Seeba Chaachouh, a third-year law […]

Academics & Education

Pamphlets inform Muslim women of their rights in wake of Quebec’s secularism law Documents include information on how to face and report harassment and how to deal with discrimination

November 28, 2019   

(CBC) An advocacy group is launching a campaign to inform Muslim women of their rights as it tries to deal with increasing reports of harassment and discrimination since Quebec’s secularism law was introduced. Justice Femme, the group behind the campaign, will begin distributing […]

Clerics & Preachers

Founder of Berlin’s liberal mosque honored for inclusive vision Seyran Ates' long fight for women's rights in the Muslim world led her to open a tolerant mosque where non-veiled women could preach and pray alongside men. She has now been honored with the prestigious Urania Medal.

November 26, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) A lawyer, activist, author and now imam, Seyran Ates has long lent a critical voice to debates about migration, women’s rights and religious freedom in Germany and beyond. Ates co-founded the “liberal” Ibn Ruschd-Goethe Mosque on the third floor of St. John’s Church near […]

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Quebec women’s federation gets hate messages after support for hijab hashtag Hashtag came after female politician barred from National Assembly for wearing a hoodie

November 13, 2019   

(CBC) Quebec’s largest women’s organization said it was the target of hateful comments on social media after announcing support for the hashtag MonVoileMonChoix, or My Hijab, My Choice. The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) said it was inundated with hateful, Islamophobic messages. Some […]

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Ontario MPPs pass Coteau’s motion affirming religious freedoms in response to Quebec’s Bill 21 Michael Coteau placed motion before Legislature on Thursday afternoon

November 7, 2019   

(CBC) The Ontario Legislature on Thursday passed a motion from Michael Coteau, Liberal MPP for Don Valley East, affirming the province’s support of religious diversity in response to Quebec’s Bill 21. Coteau placed the motion before the province’s elected representatives on Thursday afternoon, asking […]