The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a legal challenge of Quebec’s secularism law, known as Bill 21.
The top court announced Thursday morning it has granted leave to appeal to several groups that oppose the law, which prohibits civil servants in positions of authority, including teachers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols on the job.
Bill 21 was passed in 2019 by the Quebec government, which pre-emptively invoked Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, known as the notwithstanding clause, to shield the legislation from court challenges over fundamental rights violations.
Opponents have fought the law ever since, but it has been largely upheld by lower courts. In April 2021, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled Bill 21 was mostly legal, but exempted English-language school boards and struck down a ban on members of the provincial legislature wearing face coverings….