Canadian PM open to fighting law that cost hijab-wearing teacher her job

Statement comes after a teacher was transferred under Quebec law that forbids employees from wearing religious symbols

TORONTO:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not "closed the door" on legal action against a Quebec law that cost a teacher her job last week because of her hijab, his office said on Friday.

A Grade 3 teacher in Chelsea, Quebec was transferred to a different position under a Quebec law that forbids public sector employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols, Wayne Daly, interim chair of the Western Quebec School Board, told Reuters.

He has been inundated with phone calls and emails since, he said - the vast majority opposing the move. In a hand-drawn card posted online by human rights advocate Amira Elghawaby, a Grade 3 student decried the transfer as "not fair."

The mostly French-speaking province of Quebec enacted the law in 2019 ostensibly to maintain "laicite" - secularism - in its public service.

The bill, partially upheld by a Quebec court this spring, has been slammed for targeting Muslims, Sikhs and Jews. Federal party leaders demanded an apology during a September federal election debate after the moderator called it discriminatory.

Also read: Canadian police label attack against Muslim women ‘hate crime’

"Nobody in Canada should ever lose their job because of what they wear or their religious beliefs," Trudeau's office said in an email. "We haven't closed the door on making representation in court in the future," it added.

Inclusion and Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen told reporters on Thursday it was "premature" to ask the federal government if it plans to oppose the two-year-old law.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the National Council of Canadian Muslims and other groups filed documents supporting their argument before an appeals court, likely next year.

They face an uphill battle because Quebec has invoked a clause allowing governments to enact legislation that violates some parts of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But support from the federal government might make a difference, said University of Waterloo politics professor Emmett Macfarlane.

"There is some evidence that government interventions in constitutional cases can have some weight."

CCLA equality programme director Noa Mendelsohn Aviv told Reuters the issue is not Quebec or Canada, but universal human rights.

"Ultimately it is human beings that are being pushed out of their jobs, human beings that are suffering and fundamental rights that are being violated."