Overview
- The Supreme Court, which wrapped a four-day hearing Thursday, said it will deliver its judgment at a later date.
- Quebec’s Bill 21, passed in 2019, bars public-sector authority figures such as teachers from wearing religious symbols and was insulated from Charter challenges by Section 33, which lets governments override certain rights for up to five years.
- A key fight centers on whether courts may issue “judicial declarations” that find a rights breach even if the law stays in effect, with the federal government and many groups backing the idea and Quebec plus Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan rejecting it.
- Intervenors described concrete harms, saying the law has pushed Muslim women and other religious minorities out of public jobs and even limited courtroom roles for professionals who wear faith-based attire.
- The hearing drew more than three dozen intervenors in one of the court’s lengthiest sittings, and the eventual ruling is expected to guide how Section 33 is used for years.
- Beyond religious-freedom claims, the judges heard arguments on minority-language education rights under Section 23 and on gender equality guarantees under Section 28, which could shape how Bill 21 applies in English-language schools and to women’s rights.