Teachers Union Teams Up with Supreme Court Bid to Rule on Quebec Religious Symbols Ban

A major Quebec teachers union, the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), has announced that it will follow the English Montreal School Board’s lead and challenge the province’s secularism law before the Supreme Court of Canada. The FAE expressed its opposition to the Quebec government’s use of the notwithstanding clause to protect the law from Charter challenges.

The law, known as Bill 21, was passed in 2019 and prohibits public sector employees, including teachers, police officers, and judges, from wearing religious symbols at work. Critics argue that this infringes on their rights. Despite the Quebec Court of Appeal upholding the law in February, the English Montreal School Board declared its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court, with the support of the federal government if the challenge is taken up.

The FAE believes it has a responsibility to defend the fundamental rights of its members and is concerned about the distortion of the Canadian and Quebec charters of rights due to the “excessive use” of the notwithstanding clause by legislatures. The union represents approximately 66,500 teachers across various regions of the province, including those at Montreal’s main French-language school board.

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