“Blatant and unjustified violations of freedom of religion” have no place in the province, they say.
Less than a month after it was passed, Quebec’s ban on full-face veils is facing significant opposition.
Reuters reports that both the National Council for Canadian Muslims and and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association are calling on the province’s court to declare the bill unlawful. Passed in October, the bill bans face coverings of all kinds on public transport and in government buildings.
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Quebec’s Liberal government says the ban is about security, but opponents have argued that it amounts to discrimination against Muslim women. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also spoken against the bill, saying “I don’t think it’s the government’s business to tell a woman what she should or shouldn’t be wearing.”
“As a federal government, we are going to take our responsibility seriously and look carefully at what the implications are,” he told the Guardian in October.
The law is set to come into effect on July 1 2018, and states that people using public transport or engaging with government services would have to uncover their faces. If this challenge is successful, though, it would be over before it started.
“Such blatant and unjustified violations of freedom of religion, as well as of the equality guarantees of the Quebec and Canadian Charters, have no place in Quebec or Canada,” Reuters quotes the groups’ court submission.
Political scientist Emmett Macfarlane told the site the challenge has a solid chance of success.
“It’s a pretty clear case, where we know who’s being adversely affected and we know it’s a distinct minority,” he said.
The French-speaking province is the only area in North America to pass such a ban. It follows similar laws in France, Belgium and Austria, but doesn’t go as far as some. In Belgium, women wearing the niqab in public can be fined and jailed.
“We are just saying that for reasons linked to communication, identification and safety, public services should be given and received with an open face,” Quebec premier Philippe Couillard said in October.
We’ll keep you updated on the case’s outcome.
Images: Getty
