Bigotry and human rights violations by Quebec are constitutional according to province’s highest court ruling on “secularism” law

The decision about Quebec’s secularism law should scare all Canadians about human rights protections in this country.  It is very likely to be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada for a final ruling, and if they agree with the Quebec Appeals Court that the Quebec law is constitutional it would mean that the concept of human rights in this country will become meaningless. 

 

By Fareed Khan

 

In a unanimous decision by Quebec’s highest court on the province’s controversial Bill 21 “secularism” law released on February 29th the judges sided with the provincial government and decided that it is within its constitutional rights to implement policies and laws that violate human rights, and (by extension) promote racism and bigotry against religious minorities.

 

 

The court was ruling on a challenge to the law launched by a number of civil liberties and Muslim organizations under Section 2(a) of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The law was implemented by Quebec’s CAQ government in 2019, which invoked the Constitution’s “notwistanding” clause (Section 33) to override Charter rights and the case has been working its way through the court since the Charter challenge was launched later the same year.

 

In issuing the decision the judges on Quebec’s Court of Appeal seem to be saying that the fundamental human rights of the communities primarily affected by the law, who are mainly racialized religious communities, do not matter, and that the bigotry and racism that the law enables is acceptable.  With this decision members of Quebec’s Muslim, Sikh and Jewish communities who wear clothing that is intrinsic to the practice of their faith have been told that they are second class citizens and lesser human beings because of their religious beliefs.  While the law affects people of all faiths a 2019 poll revealed that the law was founded on the basis of anti-Muslim prejudice in Quebec.

The court’s decision is a very dangerous and fascistic approach to human rights in Quebec because it now gives free reign to the government to violate the fundamental rights of any individual or community if it is to their political advantage.  Such court rulings are more in line with authoritarian, far right regimes in other countries than those of an advanced democracy like Canada.

 

While Premier Francois Legault’s government is the primary villain in this situation they have also been enabled by the federal government which declined to intervene immediately after the law was instituted in 2019 by referring the law directly to the Supreme Court.  Had the government of Justin Trudeau taken that action it would have expedited a ruling on the law at Canada’s highest court, and Quebec’s racialized religious minorities would not have had to live under the tyranny of a government which finds it acceptable to violate religious freedoms.

 

The federal government’s failure to take action has allowed Quebec to destroy the lives of observant Muslims, Sikhs and Jews in Quebec who have been unable to fulfill career ambitions in their home province by working in those fields restricted to them under Bill 21.  For more than four and a half years Quebec has violated the rights of these religious communities, and the Trudeau government has been complicit in these rights violations by refusing to take action to defend the rights of Canadians.

 

Quebecers who wanted to work in certain public sector jobs – teachers, police officers, crown attorneys, and others – have had to leave the province to pursue a living because Justin Trudeau was more concerned about votes in Quebec than he was about the fundamental rights of Canadians.  He was not alone in this laissez-faire approach to criticizing the Quebec law as the leaders of other federalist parties said the issue was within Quebec’s purview, while the nationalist Bloc Quebecois and the far right People’s Party of Canada said that the federal government should stay out of Quebec’s business.

 

 

Since being elected in 2015 Trudeau and his ministers have talked repeatedly about their support of the Charter and the rights of Canadians and their opposition to racism.  But it appears these statements were all political theater because the federal government has shown repeatedly that it cares more about the public relations benefits of making such statements rather than about defending the human rights of racialized minorities, whether at home or abroad.  A government that truly cared about defending the human rights of Canadians would have referred the Quebec law to the Supreme Court in 2019 when it came into force regardless of the political consequences, or it could have used its powers under the “disallowance” clause of the Constitution (Section 90).

 

 

The Quebec court’s decision also raises concerns about the integrity of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Since it came into force the “notwithstanding” clause has been used 26 times by provincial governments (primarily Quebec) to override Charter rights.  When it was implemented more than 40 years ago the Charter was seen as a shield to protect the rights of Canadians from the whims of politicians.  But as we have seen in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and other provinces over more than 40 years provincial governments are now more than willing to use this provision to violate Charter rights for the sake of political expediency regardless of who suffers as a result.  It begs the question, what is the point of having guaranteed rights under Canada’s Constitution when they can be ignored by governments and politicians whenever it suits them.

 

The decision about Quebec’s secularism law should scare all Canadians about human rights protections in this country.  It is very likely to be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada for a final ruling, and if they agree with the Quebec Appeals Court that the Quebec law is constitutional it would mean that the concept of human rights in this country will become meaningless.  This would make Canada no different than authoritarian states where political leaders violate their citizens’ rights at will.  People across Canada should be deeply concerned about what is down the road, and remain vigilant about protecting fundamental rights, which are slowly being chipped away by the actions of some provincial governments.  Otherwise we will lose them and human rights and civil liberties in Canada will return to the era before the Charter when the decision about whether Canadians had rights were in the hands of very flawed politicians and the interests they serve.

 

Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.

 

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