A national Muslim organization and a civil liberties group have begun making their case in court against Quebec\u2019s secularism law.<\/p>\n
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A national Muslim organization and a civil liberties group have begun making their case in court against Quebec\u2019s secularism law.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Catherine McKenzie argues that Bill 21 \u2014 which bans some public sector workers from wearing religious symbols at work \u2014 is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
She told a judge today that Quebec is trying to legislate the relationship between the state and religion and doing so is the sole jurisdiction of the federal government.<\/p>\n
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and Ichrak Nourel Hak \u2014 a Universite de Montreal education student who wears a hijab \u2014 are listed as plaintiffs in the case.<\/p>\n
They are seeking an immediate judicial stay on the sections of the law that prohibit public sector employees from wearing religious symbols at work.<\/p>\n
They are also seeking a stay on the section that requires people to give or receive state services with their faces uncovered.<\/p>\n
Bill 21 invokes the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Constitution, which prevents citizens from challenging the law for violating fundamental rights and freedoms protected by the charter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A national Muslim organization and a civil liberties group have begun making their case in court against Quebec\u2019s secularism law. \u00a0 \u00a0 A national Muslim organization and a civil liberties group have begun making their case in court against Quebec\u2019s secularism law. Lawyer Catherine McKenzie argues that Bill 21 \u2014 which bans some public sector …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":19523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[205,1427,1426],"class_list":["post-7760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islam","tag-muslim","tag-religious","tag-secularism"],"yoast_head":"\n