Trudeau Slammed Bill 21 & Showed Support For A Muslim Quebec Teacher Who Lost Her Job
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke out against Quebec's Bill 21 after an elementary school teacher in the province's Outaouais region lost her job for wearing a hijab.
"I don't find that in a free and open society that someone should lose their job because of their religion. This is no longer a theoretical issue," the prime minister said at a press conference on Monday, December 13.
On December 9, CBC reported that Fatemeh Anvari, a teacher working for the Western Quebec School Board at Chelsea Elementary School, was removed from her teaching job for wearing a hijab despite having worked as a substitute teacher since the fall.
The report led to public outcry and renewed criticism of the religious symbols ban for public servants in positions of authority.
Responding to the criticism at a press conference on December 10, Quebec Premier François Legault defended the law, saying it reinforces the secularism of the state.
"When a law is adopted, it must be enforced," he said. "So the school board should not have hired that person."
Responding to a journalist's question about the issue on Monday, Trudeau didn't mince his words.
"I always said very clearly that I deeply disagree with Bill 21," the prime minister said.
"Quebecers are huge defenders of freedom of expression, gender equality, freedom of conscience — there are people who are always there to defend our rights."
"I know that there are many Quebecers who are very concerned with the fact that in a society that claims to be free and open, that someone can lose their job because of their religion."
Despite the fact that Bill 21 is law in Quebec, Trudeau hinted that the federal government hasn't ruled out the possibility of intervening in cases emerging from the province's controversial secularism law.
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