The Palais de justice courthouse in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Photo: Ken Lund/Flickr.
Leading Jewish groups expressed disappointment on Wednesday after the Quebec Superior Court largely upheld a bill that effectively bans the wearing of religious symbols by most public service workers.
According to the official government explanatory notes, “Bill 21: An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State,” approved in 2019, will “prohibit certain persons from wearing religious symbols while exercising their functions” in public service, and that “personnel members of a [public] body must exercise their functions with their face uncovered,” along with “persons who present themselves to receive a service.”