While, on the Ottawa side, the Trudeau government reiterated its intention to intervene if the legitimacy of the Law on State Secularism went to the Supreme Court, an hour after the announcement of the decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal which ruled in favor of Quebec on almost all counts, the French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, delivered a powerful plea in favor of secularism at the Salon Bleu. “Faced with those who pretend not to understand what secularism is, who would like to divert it, make people believe that it is a form of anti-religion weapon, make people believe that it is a form of negation of religions, make believe that it is a form of discrimination, we respond that secularism is the condition of freedom, is the condition of equality, is the condition of fraternity. »
The terms used by Gabriel Attal are firm and unequivocal, and constitute unconditional support for Quebec in the affirmation of its state identity. Ottawa may well invoke its Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly freedom of religion, but I am of the opinion that the Law on State Secularism in no way infringes on this freedom since Bill 21 only affects the wearing of religious symbols. for people in line of authority in their workplace.
Language also contributes to the emergence of the two solitudes between Quebec and Ottawa. On one side, federal bilingualism, on the other, the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French. French, in the eyes of the federal government, constitutes a minority language in Canada and, as a result, is condemned to be dependent on a particular and therefore fragile status.
Finally, the shameless interference in provincial jurisdiction by Justin Trudeau in recent weeks has given rise to a denigrating isolationism of Quebec, given its powers, which are nevertheless recognized by the Canadian Constitution.
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