(CBC) One of Canada’s most prominent Muslim advocacy groups used part of its time in front of a Commons committee studying Islamophobia Thursday to attack a controversial Quebec law that bars most public sector employees from wearing religious clothing or symbols on the job. […]
(CBC) The Quebec crown prosecutors’ office says no charges will be filed after speeches at pro-Palestinian demonstrations last October led to accusations of hate speech. In a news release Thursday, the director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP) says it came to […]
(Canadian Press) French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal used his visit to Quebec this week to express strong support for the province’s model of state secularism even as he claimed to abstain from weighing in on debates over the controversial policy. And despite […]
(CTV) The debate over the constitutionality of Quebec’s secularism law is poised to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. On Wednesday evening, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) voted in favour of asking Canada’s top court to rule on Bill 21 […]
(CBC) The Quebec Court of Appeal has upheld the province’s controversial secularism law in a ruling on challenges to the law’s constitutionality released Thursday afternoon. The heavily anticipated judgment is 290 pages long and quashes a previous exception, made by Superior Court […]
(Global News) Nearly five years since the Quebec government implemented its secularism law, known as Bill 21, some of the province’s community groups say the legislation continues to have an impact on minority communities. The law bans certain public workers in positions […]
(Montreal Gazette) The leaders of Quebec’s four main political parties are calling for well-known and controversial imam Adil Charkaoui to be investigated for possible hate crimes after he delivered a prayer calling for the extermination of “Zionist aggressors” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration […]
(Montreal Gazette) Six Muslim groups are asking a Quebec court to declare unconstitutional a new provincial edict that bans religious activity in public schools. In a lawsuit filed this week, the groups asked Quebec Superior Court to “declare constitutionally invalid, inapplicable, inoperative […]
(Canadian Press) The federal Conservatives are trying to reassure the World Sikh Organization of Canada that the party remains opposed to Quebec’s secularism law after its MPs voted in support of a provision the province used to create it. On Monday, the […]
(CBC) The Quebec government is calling on the federal government to withdraw its support of Amira Elghawaby, the new representative to combat Islamophobia, only four days after she was first appointed. This comes a day after her attendance at the sixth commemoration […]
(CityNews) Next month’s provincial election will have tremendous implications for Quebec’s Muslim community, according to the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The NCCM released its Quebec election policy guide this week, ahead of the Oct. 3 vote. The guide lays out […]
(CityNews) Communities in Quebec are speaking out as the province’s premier said he and his party oppose multiculturalism. Quebec’s Premier François Legault said recently that he and his party oppose multiculturalism, adding that in Quebec there is only one culture that is […]
(CBC) Maram Makhlouf, a Grade 6 student, moved to Quebec from Germany about three years ago and on Thursday she was in a Montreal park with her family celebrating the province’s national holiday, or Fête nationale. She said the day is “really important to […]
(Canadian Press) The federal government will join a legal challenge to Quebec’s religious symbols law if it reaches the country’s highest court, Justice Minister David Lametti said Wednesday. “When it arrives at the Supreme Court of Canada, it is by definition a […]
(Canadian Press) A new poll suggests support may have slipped for a key element of Quebec’s secularism law, known as Bill 21. A web panel survey carried out by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies earlier this month found 55 per […]
(CBC) The interim chair for the Western Québec School Board says the school board made a mistake in hiring Fatemeh Anvari, the Chelsea, Que., elementary school teacher who had to be removed from her position under Quebec’s secularism law because she wears […]
(Canadian Press) Premier François Legault said Friday a school board in western Quebec should never have hired a woman who had to be removed from her teaching duties because she wears a hijab. Legault said the province’s law restricting religious symbols, known […]
(Global News) Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says he hasn’t “ruled out” federal intervention to challenge Bill 21 in court. The contentious bill, also known as Quebec’s “secularism bill,” is legislation across the province that prohibits public service workers, including teachers, lawyers and […]
(CBC) The vehicle attack in London, Ont., earlier this week, which killed all but one young member of the Afzaal family, was the third time in the last four years that Muslims in Canada have been murdered because of their faith. Since […]
(Canadian Press) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the habit of wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic might be changing Quebecers’ views on the province’s religious symbols ban. He was asked about Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21, during a news conference […]
(Global News) After a Quebec Superior Court judge rendered a decision upholding most of the Legault government’s religious symbols ban for public employees, a new chapter in the legal battle over Bill 21 is set to begin. Coalition Inclusion Quebec, a group […]
(CBC) Seeking re-election in October 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau baited his opponents over their lack of commitment to a court challenge against Bill 21, the controversial Quebec secularism law that bans public servants from wearing religious symbols at work. “I am […]
(Montreal Gazette) A highly anticipated legal decision on Quebec’s religious symbols law is expected to be issued on Tuesday. Quebec Superior Court Justice Marc-André Blanchard heard arguments last winter for and against Bill 21, the controversial secularism law adopted by the Legault […]
(Montreal Gazette) Amnesty International is condemning Canada’s record on its treatment of First Nations peoples and minority rights and has singled out Quebec for the adoption of Bill 21. The human rights organization’s criticisms were contained in its annual report made public […]
(Canadian Press) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended free expression in a call with the president of France on Thursday, his office says. The conversation with France’s Emmanuel Macron came one week after three people were killed in a deadly knife assault in […]
(CBC) Plaintiffs challenging Quebec’s ban on religious symbols sought to dismantle, on Tuesday, one of the main arguments made by supporters of the law — that the hijab is a symbol of female oppression and undermines gender equality. The Laicity Act, which was passed […]
(CBC) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pressed Tuesday to clarify comments he made last week about the limits of free speech after a teacher in France was beheaded by a terrorist for showing cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class […]
(Canadian Press) Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said following a meeting Monday with Quebec Premier Francois Legault that he supports the province’s right to pass legislation banning religious symbols and he wouldn’t challenge it in court. Canada is facing a national unity crisis, O’Toole told reporters after his first in-person meeting […]
(CBC) Dozens of people gathered outside Quebec Premier François Legault’s Montreal office on Sunday to stage a sit-in, in opposition to the province’s ban on religious symbols that became law one year ago. The most controversial section of the law, known as […]
(CBC) The English Montreal School Board says it will not take the $250,000 it was offered by the federally backed Court Challenges Program to fight two Quebec laws that the board contends go against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In […]
(CBC) The Quebec government says Ottawa has some explaining to do after it was revealed that the English Montreal School Board is funding two separate legal challenges of provincial laws with federal tax dollars. “We need an explanation from the federal government,” […]
(CBC) Civil rights groups challenging Quebec’s controversial ban on religious symbols have filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Last month, Quebec’s Court of Appeal rejected a request to suspend portions of the law, known as Bill 21, pending a ruling on its constitutionality. […]
(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. […]
(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, […]
(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 […]
(CBC) Quebec Premier François Legault offered a brief shout-out on Tuesday to Quebecers “preoccupied” with the alleged bias of a judge involved in a case related to the province’s secularism law. During a media scrum at the National Assembly, Legault was asked […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(AP) A union federation representing 45,000 teachers in Quebec is suing the Canadian province over its ban on the wearing of religious symbols by many public employees. The lawsuit by the Fédération Autonome de l’Enseignement challenges a state secularism law passed this […]
(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 […]
(Canadian Press) Quebec Premier Francois Legault defended the province’s controversial secularism bill on Thursday after yet another municipal council passed a motion this week condemning the legislation. Toronto city councillors passed the motion at their meeting on Wednesday, making the Ontario capital the largest […]
(CBC) Immigrants to Canada who want to settle in Quebec will soon be required to pass a provincial values test. Starting Jan. 1, immigrants will have to prove they have learned “democratic values and Quebec values” in order to obtain a selection certificate, the […]
(Canadian Press) Protesters against Quebec’s secularism law said Sunday that they aren’t giving up the fight to overturn Bill 21, with or without politicians on their side. As a cold rain fell, dozens gathered in Montreal’s Parc-Extension neighbourhood on Sunday to march against […]
(CBC) The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has filed its legal challenge of Quebec’s controversial law that bars teachers and principals from wearing religious symbols. The legal challenge, filed Thursday by the law firm Power Law on behalf of the EMSB and parent commissioners […]
(Global News) Quebec Premier François Legault congratulated Justin Trudeau on his reelection. Yet bolstered by the Liberals’ drop to minority status and the electoral success of the nationalist Bloc Québécois, Legault cautioned the prime minister not to take any actions that go […]
(Toronto Sun) The resurgent Bloc Quebecois is poised to perform well in the election under its articulate and pragmatic leader, Yves-Francois Blanchet. It has successfully pitched itself to younger voters by turning away from ageing entrenched separatists. Recent polls in Quebec put […]
(Canadian Press) Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has had enough of all the secularism talk. Quebec’s Bill 21 banning religious symbols for some public servants is a “very important” subject, but it should not be an issue in the current federal campaign, the […]
(CTV) Over 100 people gathered in Place-Emilie-Gamelin on Sunday to demonstrate against Quebec’s Bill 21, the start of a weeklong flurry of activity in opposition to the controversial religious symbols law. The Montreal protest was one of four in cities across the […]
(CTV) Bill 21 has been law in Quebec since June, but that hasn’t stopped public mobilization against the province’s controversial ban on religious symbols in the public service. Anti-Bill 21 demonstrations will be held in four cities across the province at 2 […]
(CBC) Quebec’s secularism law, which bans some civil servants from wearing religious symbols at work, is facing a new legal challenge. Lawyers representing a multi-faith group filed a motion Thursday in Quebec Superior Court that argues the law violates constitutional protections of gender […]
Thank you for reading Eye on Islamism.