The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) will not be able to immediately hire teachers wearing religious symbols as it wishes. It has just been dismissed by the Court of Appeal, which confirms that Law 21 continues to apply.
Let us recall that last April, a judgment of the Superior Court of Quebec concluded that the law on the secularism of the State infringed the right of the English-speaking minority to manage and control its institutions, and exempted the English-speaking school boards from its application.
The Quebec government appealed against Judge Marc-André Blanchard’s decision a few months later. The Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, had indicated that the judgment of the Superior Court created “two Quebec”, while “the laws must apply uniformly” everywhere.
The EMSB asked to be exempted from the application of Bill 21 until a decision is rendered on the Quebec appeal, which it has just been denied.