Women wear hijabs as they walk in the Old Port in Montreal, Thursday, August 11, 2022. The Quebec Court of Appeal will rule on the constitutionality of the province's secularism law, better known as Bill 21, in a hotly anticipated ruling today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled that the province’s secularism law, better known as Bill 21, is constitutional and has overturned a lower court ruling that exempted English school boards from the law.
In a decision today, the province’s highest court upholds much of a 2021 Quebec Superior Court ruling, which said the law’s use of the notwithstanding clause overrode infringements of fundamental rights.
The 2019 law declares the province is a secular state and includes a provision prohibiting public sector workers in positions of authority – including teachers, judges, and police officers – from wearing religious symbols on the job.
More coming.
