Groups challenging Quebec law on religious neutrality
Two groups have filed a legal challenge to Quebec’s Bill 62, saying the face-veil law “gravely infringes’’ the religious and equality rights of certain Muslim women in the province.
The recently adopted law prohibits students from covering their face in class.
It also forces people whose fare requires a card with photo ID to uncover their face before riding public transit, although they can put the veil back on once they’ve been identified.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Marie-michelle Lacoste, a Quebec woman who converted to Islam in 2003, filed the challenge in Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday.
“The Act gravely infringes the religious and equality rights of certain Muslim women in Quebec,’’ their court document states.
The challenge takes direct aim at the section of the law that forces public sector employees and private citizens to have their face uncovered when giving or receiving public services.
“This requirement directly infringes the freedom of religion of individuals, such as Muslim women, who cover their faces as a religious practice,’’ it said.
“The Act thus precludes certain Muslim women, including affiants in these proceedings, from receiving various public services unless they act contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs.’’
Ihsaan Gardee, executive-director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, told a news conference the law is clearly aimed at Muslim women who wear a face veil.
“Our legal challenge targets the heart of what this law really is: a discriminatory, unconstitutional and unnecessary piece of legislation that excludes and stigmatizes an already marginalized and vulnerable minority of women and, by extension, the larger Quebec Muslim community,’’ he said.
“We believe Quebecers don’t support discrimination and prejudice, which is what Bill 62 codifies into law.’’
In Quebec City, Premier Philippe Couillard briefly commented on the challenge, saying, “we deliberately wrote a bill that respects the charters and we’re very comfortable with that.’’
Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee, who spearheaded the legislation, said much the same thing.
“It is a law that is respectful of the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed by the charters,’’ she said.
Vallee has previously said the face-veil ban was instituted in order to ensure proper communication, identification and security during the exchange of public services.
The law has been panned across the country by federal and provincial politicians, who see it as targeting a small minority of Muslim women _ essentially the only citizens who regularly wear face veils in public.
Vallee has said the legislation doesn’t target any religious group and says most Quebecers agree with the principle behind the bill.
Montreal-born Fatima Ahmad, who has been wearing a niqab since she was given it as a gift more than a year ago, says in an affidavit included in the court document that her life has become significantly more difficult since Bill 62 became law.
Ahmad, 21, said she is concerned it will affect her ability to continue going to university, visit the library, see the doctor and take public transit.
The second-year Mcgill University student now avoids taking public transit for fear of being turned away or being asked to remove her niqab.
In an interview Tuesday, Ahmad said she’s had to deal with various comments ever since she began wearing it and has faced 20 or 30 incidents over the past year.