Editorial: Bill 21 Undermines Quebec’s Efforts to Be Inclusive

Article content

The irony was hard to miss. At the same time that the government of the Avenir Québec Coalition emphasized its commitment to the fight against racism in this province and highlighted the important steps that were being taken, the impact of its discriminatory Bill 21 was being felt in a school in the western Quebec. There, a woman was relieved of her teaching duties because she wears a hijab, something that is no longer allowed for new employees.

Article content

As long as this disgusting law remains on the books, it will undermine any commendable steps taken to build a truly inclusive Quebec.

On Thursday, Cabinet Minister Benoit Charette released an update on the government’s efforts to combat racism and discrimination. He said he is satisfied with the progress that has been made, including in implementing the recommendations of the anti-racism working group that published its report a year ago.

In many respects, this government seems serious about fighting racism, even if it remains inexplicably allergic to the recognition of its systemic nature. An example came this week with the presentation of Bill 18, which will allow the government to issue directives against discrimination based on racial profiling by the police and also expand the jurisdiction of the independent police oversight body. Given both the statistics and the endless outrageous anecdotes about the use of racial profiling by the police, these are steps in the right direction. The government’s anti-racism advertising campaign also indicates good intentions, even if its execution has been surprising.

Article content

Proponents of Bill 21 protest in outrage that the secular law is not racist, which applies to all Quebecers equally. What they lack, however, is that the rules it imposes have a disproportionate impact on racialized people and followers of non-Christian religions for whom the use of so-called religious symbols is often considered part of religious practice. This makes it discriminatory. And despite all the protests that others do not understand that Quebecers simply want to separate religion from the state, even though this is precisely a case where the state meddles with religious freedom, it would take very little memory to forget that the law stems, at least in part, from an unwarranted fear of Muslims.

Article content

Bill 21’s use of the clause however is an admission of its abusive nature. Unfortunately, it has so far been effective in protecting the law from legal challenges on human rights grounds. A recent court decision found an opportunity for English school boards to waive it on the basis of minority language education rights, but the law remains in effect while that decision is appealed.

And the toxic effects of the bill continue to be felt.