Jagmeet Singh says he would support federal intervention in a judicial challenge to a Quebec law known as Bill 21, which prohibits teachers and some other public sector workers from wearing religious symbols at work.
The NDP leader said Tuesday that he always believed the law was discriminatory, but has hardened his stance on court actions following the case of a teacher in Chelsea, Que., Who was reassigned because she wears a hijab.
Fatemeh Anvari, a third grade teacher, was told that she could no longer teach in a classroom because her hijab contravened Quebec law.
Parents and children, along with community members, have protested outside the school to express their opposition to the law and express their support for the teacher.
At a news conference in Ottawa, Singh said it was unfair that a Muslim woman wearing a hijab is not allowed to teach in Quebec, but that her brother, who does not wear any religious symbols, is allowed to do the job.
“Given what we’ve seen in Chelsea, given that we saw a woman who was taken out of the classroom just because of her appearance … now is the time to be very clear and say if this case reaches the federal level, then the federal government. You must support the three million Quebecers who oppose this law and oppose discrimination, ”he said.
Singh has criticized the law before, but has stopped short of calling for federal intervention in the past.
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The NDP leader, who is Sikh and wears a turban, said Tuesday that he himself has suffered discrimination.
“The federal government must support Quebecers who fight this discrimination in court,” he added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that he strongly disagrees with Bill 21 and that his administration has not ruled out intervening in a legal battle against the law “at some point.”
NDP leader @theJagmeetSingh would support federal intervention in the judicial challenge of Quebec Bill 21. #NDP #CDNPoli # Bill21
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has said the issue is a Quebec affair.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, said in French: “We understand in Quebec, once again, that the federal parties are unanimously against Quebec on the issue of secularism.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on December 14, 2021.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com