(CBC) Racha Cheaib, a particle physicist, often helps organize an annual event at a Muslim community centre in Montreal to celebrate girls who decide to wear the hijab. Last year, far-right groups sought to disrupt the event, and twice succeeded in getting […]
(CTV) Hundreds of Montrealers linked arms to form a human chain around the Palais de Justice on Sunday to express opposition to Bill 21, days before hearings about the legislation take place. Canadian Council of Muslim Women spokesperson Shaheen Ashraf was among […]
(CTV) A pro-Bill 21 rally was held in downtown Montreal Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of people — many of them donning patriotic gear and waving Quebec flags — gathered on de Maisonneuve Boulevard, not far from Papineau Avenue. “La Vague Bleue” — the […]
(CTV) Police forces are refusing to participate in public consultations on Bill 21, which aims to prohibit the wearing of religious symbols by many civil servants. On Monday, the secretary of the Committee on Institutions, Carolyne Paquette, confirmed that the Quebec Bar […]
(CBC) Quebec’s largest school board has come out against the province’s plan to ban teachers from wearing religious symbols in the classroom, saying it runs contrary to the school board’s mission and would be difficult to enforce. The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) outlined […]
(CTV) In the face of increasing Islamophobia, a group of Muslims in Toronto is vowing to reclaim the mosque as a sacred and safe space for women. The Women’s Mosque of Canada marked its first prayer meeting in Toronto Friday, in an […]
(CBC) Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has been the target of an escalating series of violent threats, apparently sparked by her staunch opposition to the provincial government’s secularism bill. Plante spoke publicly last month about receiving hateful comments after she first criticized Bill […]
(CBC) The minister responsible for Quebec’s proposed secularism law says there will be no exemption for Montreal, a day after city council unanimously denounced Bill 21. Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said he welcomes the City of Montreal’s input as hearings begin on the […]
(CBC) Montreal city councillors have unanimously adopted a declaration against the Quebec government’s secularism bill, put forward by the mayor and leader of the opposition. The bipartisan declaration, signed by Mayor Valérie Plante and Ensemble Montréal interim leader Lionel Perez, presents a […]
(CBC) Montrealers took to the streets to protest Quebec’s proposed religious neutrality bill at two separate rallies on Sunday, in Côte Saint-Luc and in downtown Montreal. If adopted, Bill 21 would prevent public employees — including teachers, police officers and judges — […]
(CBC) Ameni Ben Ammar lays out a spread of Tunisian hospitality on the coffee table of her small apartment in downtown Montreal. Traditional pastries, a homemade cheese chicken pie and Tunisian wine. Despite having left six years ago, the bond with her […]
(CBC) Hampstead Mayor William Steinberg is facing growing pressure to apologize for saying Quebec’s proposed religious symbol ban amounts to “ethnic cleansing.” But instead of apologizing, on Tuesday he opted to clarify his comments, referring to the ban’s effect as a “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” […]
(CBC) Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Montreal on Sunday afternoon to protest the Quebec government’s Bill 21 — proposed legislation that would ban some public employees from wearing symbols of their faith. “Quebec is not France, long live the difference!” protesters chanted […]
(CBC) A week after tabling the legislation, opposition to the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s plan to ban certain public workers from wearing religious symbols is growing more organized — and more vitriolic. Politicians in Montreal’s west end at the federal, provincial and municipal level came […]
(Montreal Gazette) To the staccato of blaring horns and cheers from motorists on Ste-Catherine St., students and teachers formed a human chain outside Westmount High School on Wednesday morning to protest against Bill 21. The row of people — about 200 — […]
(National Post) Quebec’s newly tabled law, “An Act respecting the laicity of the State,” will be sent to committee for study, and with the help of the notwithstanding clause, will pass as written. The new law prohibits all government employees in positions […]
(Toronto Sun) It has been 10 years since Quebec’s Bouchard-Taylor Commission recommended that all public officials who embody the authority and the neutrality of the state and its institutions, such as judges, crown prosecutors, police officers, prison guards and the president and […]
(CBC) The mayor of Montreal calls it “very concerning.” Religious groups say it’s discriminatory. And civil liberties groups have vowed to fight. But what legal options do these groups have in the face of the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s secularism bill, and what […]
(CBC) Civil rights activists in the National Capital Region say they will challenge Quebec’s secularism bill introduced Thursday by the Coalition Avenir Québec government. The legislation bans public workers from wearing religious symbols such as the kippa or hijab. This includes judges, crown prosecutors, teachers and principals, although the bill […]
(CBC) The Coalition Avenir Québec government is proposing a new law that would prohibit public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as a hijab, kippa or turban. The stated aim of the bill, titled, “An act respecting the laicity of […]
(CBC) As the Quebec government prepares to table its secularism bill, constitutional experts are raising concerns about Premier François Legault’s reported plans to pre-emptively invoke the notwithstanding clause to ensure public workers in positions of authority are banned from wearing religious symbols. Robert Leckey, dean of McGill […]
(CBC) Quebec public schools teachers and school principals will be prohibited from wearing religious symbols such as the hijab or kippa, under a bill likely to be tabled later this week in the provincial legislature. The long-awaited legislation from the Coaltion Avenir […]
(CBC) Some Muslim women in Quebec City are hoping to demystify the hijab by talking openly about their reasons for putting on the religious garment. About a dozen people gathered Saturday in Quebec City to discuss the significance of the headscarf at an […]
(Canadian Press) Quebec’s new minister responsible for the status of women faced criticism Wednesday after saying she considers the hijab to be a symbol of oppression. Speaking to reporters after being named to the portfolio Tuesday, Isabelle Charest said the Muslim head […]
(CBC) A Gatineau city councillor is apologizing for remarks she made last week about Islamophobia in Quebec, but maintains she’s been unfairly judged. In a French-language newspaper interview last week, Coun. Nathalie Lemieux said she didn’t believe Islamophobia exists in the province, and […]
(CBC) Quebec Premier François Legault has clarified his controversial comments about Islamophobia, now saying such discrimination exists but that it is not widespread. In a statement Friday, the premier’s office said Legault meant to say that there isn’t an “undercurrent” of Islamophobia in Quebec. “Quebecers are open […]
(CBC) The mayor of Gatineau, Que., wants one of his councillors out of her post as deputy mayor after she said Islamophobia doesn’t exist and said Muslim immigrants have failed to integrate into society. In the newspaper Le Droit, Gatineau Coun. Nathalie […]
(CBC) Premier François Legault says there’s no need for a day devoted to action against Islamophobia — because Islamophobia isn’t a problem in the province. Legault made the comments two days after the second anniversary of the Quebec City mosque attack, when the deputy premier, Geneviève Guilbault, said the […]
(CBC) Quebec’s Education Ministry is trying to find out how many people its plan to ban teachers from wearing religious symbols will affect. The ministry has asked school boards whether they have a record of how many staff wear a religious symbol […]
(CBC) A Quebec judge has failed in her bid to halt disciplinary proceedings against her after she refused to hear the case of a woman wearing a hijab. In February 2015, Quebec court Judge Eliana Marengo refused to hear a routine traffic […]
(CBC) At the Québec Solidaire national council this weekend in Montreal, two camps emerged on the issue of religious symbols: one of secularism and one of inclusion. While the party already supports the banning of religious symbols worn by police officers, judges, […]
(CBC) The head of a national Muslim group based in Ottawa says he’s not surprised to learn the number of hate crimes reported to police in Ontario and Quebec jumped dramatically last year. According to Statistics Canada, there was a 47 per […]
(CBC) Fatima Ahmad has been dreaming about becoming a teacher since she was a little girl. At age six, she wrote down the aspiration in her diary, along with two other options: doctor and artist. Ultimately, she chose teaching. “I love kids, […]
(Middle East Eye) More than 100 community groups across Canada have called on Justin Trudeau’s government to designate January 29 a National Day of Action against Hate and Intolerance, in memory of the victims of a deadly attack on a Canadian mosque […]
(Canadian Press) Members of Quebec’s most prominent women’s group are divided over whether to acknowledge prostitution as a freely chosen career and whether to support all Muslim female public servants who choose to wear a hijab at work. About 150 representatives from Quebec’s […]
(CBC) Quebec’s new government is planning to block Muslim women who work in the civil service from wearing the chador, a shawl-like piece of clothing that covers the head and body, and the niqab, which also covers the face. Coalition Avenir Québec […]
(Montreal Gazette) Teachers at Westmount High School took to the street Thursday to protest the incoming Coalition Avenir Québec’s proposed religious neutrality laws, on the day the new government was officially sworn in. The English Montreal School Board, which represents more than […]
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(CBC) After a week of controversy, Quebec’s incoming Coalition Avenir Québec government is opening the door a crack to compromise on its plan to ban some civil servants from wearing religious symbols. The CAQ said last week it would be prepared to fire teachers who refuse to […]
(Canadian Press) Amrit Kaur’s turban never leaves her body, no matter what she does. The 27-year-old student teacher from Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montreal, has even figured out a way to shower with it on, by tying it around her waist while she washes her hair. […]
(Canadian Press) Jean Chrétien says Quebec’s political class is “trapped” in a pointless debate over a non-existent problem: how to accommodate religious minorities. And the former prime minister predicts the furor over whether public servants should be banned from wearing religious symbols […]
(Canadian Press) A diverse crowd of protesters took to the streets of Montreal on Sunday to march against racism and denounce the newly elected Coalition Avenir Quebec government. Muslim families pushing strollers, Indigenous community leaders, masked anti-capitalist activists and members of some 50 community […]
(Canadian Press) A Montreal woman who was scolded by a judge for wearing a hijab in court had her fundamental rights violated, Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday. The court decided unanimously that citizens who wear religious attire cannot be denied access to justice. The ruling stems from a […]
(CBC) Newcomers to Quebec and their advocates say the premier-designate is taking the wrong approach to integrating immigrants, after François Legault said he will proceed next year with Coalition Avenir Québec’s plan to cut immigration levels by 20 per cent. At his first news conference as incoming premier, Legault confirmed […]
(CBC) Quebec’s premier-designate says he is prepared to invoke the notwithstanding clause to enforce a prohibition on any public employee from wearing a religious symbol such as a hijab or kippa in the workplace. François Legault would also move swiftly to reduce […]
(CBC) The Quebec government’s new guidelines to help public bodies decide whether to grant religious accommodation requests are coming into effect today. However, the union representing 8,000 teachers at English-language school boards across the province says it needs more information about what […]
(Global News) The wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has called on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to ban the use of Islamic face coverings in public places. Ensaf Haidar, who along with her three children became a Canadian citizen on Canada […]
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