If “racist” legislation is allowed to stand in Quebec, what’s to stop something similar from finding its way to Ontario, wonders Mayor Cam Guthrie.
With that question in mind, he brought forward a motion during last week’s Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) meeting condemning Bill 21 and calling on the federal government to support a Supreme Court challenge being spearheaded by groups such as World Sikh Organization, the National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Those motions passed with unanimous support.
“It shouldn’t be left up to mayors, it shouldn't be left up to municipalities across Canada to try to fight this issue,” Guthrie said, adding the federal government should be “fighting this, not dodging it”
Approved in 2019, Quebec’s Bill 21 bans public sector workers from wearing religious symbols. At the time, legislators invoked the notwithstanding clause which prevented it from being challenged in court.
However, in light of a hijab-wearing Grade 3 teacher in western Quebec being ejected from the classroom, a Supreme Court challenge is in the works.
The bill, states the OBCM motion and Guthrie himself, is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Racism down the street is still racism down the street. You can still see it,” said Guthrie. “If you think that this is an issue only in Quebec, it’s only other people over there in another jurisdiction … you can’t look at it like that.
“It’s like a legal policy pathway to racism and if it can happen there, it can happen here, it can happen anywhere in our country.”
Prior to the OBCM meeting, Brampton city council unanimously agreed to pitch in up to $100,000 to support the legal challenge.
Guthrie said he plans to bring forward a motion to Guelph city council in January that condemns the bill and urges the federal government to lend its support to the efforts to overturn it. He’s also hoping council will have a discussion about contributing financially to the cause.
“It’s really the government of Canada’s responsibility to uphold the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he added. “That void of leadership now has municipalities stepping up to the fight.”
Several other municipal councils are set to consider pitching in as well.
In 2016, city council agreed to send $5,000 to the Red Cross campaign to help those impacted by the wildfire in Alberta that destroyed Fort McMurray. Guthrie views combating Bill 21 similarly.
“There’s this fire raging across Quebec – it’s racism – and municipalities across Canada can step into this void and look to help with that fight at the Supreme Court.”
