Inundated by messages opposing the decision to move a Muslim teacher from her position due to hijab, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made it clear that he has not “closed the door” on a legal action against the Quebec law deemed discriminatory by many.
“Nobody in Canada should ever lose their job because of what they wear or their religious beliefs,” Trudeau’s office said in an email, Reuters reported.
“We haven’t closed the door on making representation in court in the future,” it added.
Trudeau’s Friday statement followed news that a grade 3 teacher in Chelsea, Quebec was transferred to a different position under a Quebec law that forbids public sector employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols.
Among messages to Trudeau’s office that rejected the decision was a hand-drawn card posted online by human rights advocate Amira Elghawaby, a Grade 3 student, which decried the transfer as “not fair.”
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The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the National Council of Canadian Muslims and other groups filed documents supporting their argument before an appeals court, likely next year.
CCLA equality program director Noa Mendelsohn Aviv told Reuters the issue is not Quebec or Canada, but universal human rights.
“Ultimately it is human beings that are being pushed out of their jobs, human beings that are suffering and fundamental rights that are being violated.”
Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey estimated Muslims in Canada to be around 1,053,945, or about 3.2% of the population, making Islam the second largest religion in the country after Christianity.
Quebec’s Bill 21 prohibits public-sector workers from wearing symbols such as hijabs, kippahs or turbans while at work.
Passed in June 2019, Bill 21 has drawn widespread criticism as a violation of religious freedom, with civil rights and religious groups saying it would disproportionately harm Muslim women, who are already marginalized.
The bill was partially upheld by a Quebec court this spring, a decision which the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) decided to appeal.