The judgment of the Court of Appeal confirming the validity of Law 21 on state secularism is “a great victory for the Quebec nation,” says Prime Minister François Legault. He warns that his government will use the notwithstanding clause as long as it takes “for Canada to recognize the choices” of Quebec.
“It’s really a great victory for the Quebec nation. The Court confirms Quebec’s right to make its own decisions,” Mr. Legault reacted Thursday, during a very brief press briefing held in Montreal.
According to the Prime Minister, who did not wish to answer questions from journalists on site, the judgment “confirms Quebec’s right to make its own decisions”.
“With Bill 21, we clearly affirmed an important value for Quebecers, secularism. It is a collective choice which is part of our history in continuity with the Quiet Revolution. Secularism is a principle that unites us as a nation in Quebec,” continued Mr. Legault.
Bill 21 prohibits the wearing of religious symbols by officials in positions of authority such as judges, police officers, crown prosecutors, prison guards, school principals and primary and secondary teachers in the public sector . “It is a guarantee that these people are neutral and also have the appearance of neutrality,” said the CAQ leader.
As long as it is necessary, the derogation clause
Mr. Legault also promised that his government “will continue to use the notwithstanding clause as long as it is necessary for Canada to recognize the choices of societies of the Quebec nation.” “It’s non-negotiable. »
“I want to end by saying that as Prime Minister, no matter what happens in the coming months or years, I will always fight for our nation, so that we make our own choices,” he said. concluded the Prime Minister.
His release came as earlier, Thursday afternoon, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the validity of Law 21 on state secularism and the wearing of religious symbols.
The judgment ruled in favor of the Legault government and inflicted a defeat on the English-Montreal school board. This 300-page judgment, highly anticipated and delivered Thursday afternoon, goes further than the Superior Court’s decision of April 2021 and undermines the exceptional regime that it had decreed for English-speaking school boards.
The secularism desired by the law “essentially reflects the current state of law which, in Quebec as elsewhere in the rest of the country, is based on a separation of the State and religions: because in fact, the constituent elements of the Canadian state are secular,” write judges Manon Savard, Yves-Marie Morrissette and Marie-France Bich.
With Louise Leduc, The Press