Bill 21 Campaign

The passing of Bill 21 in Quebec by the current CAQ government there represents the greatest civil rights battle in modern Canadian history.

Bill 21 bans many civil servants from wearing religious symbols like the hijab at work. The Jewish kippah and Sikh turban are other examples of banned symbols. This forces people to choose between their careers and their faith. It is a blatant violation of religious freedoms, a Charter protected right.

Yet at the core of Bill 21’s passage lies an even more insidious threat to Canadian democracy as a whole. By using a special clause within the Charter to shield Bill 21 from legal challenges, the CAQ government in Quebec has effectively set a precedent for politicians to attack Canadians’ rights without fear of consequence. 

NCCM has been fighting nonstop to overturn this truly disturbing attack against the very structure of Canadian democracy: the right of Canadians to challenge laws they find unconstitutional, like Bill 21.

This is a long and strenuous battle that has reached the Supreme Court of Canada. We will not stop. We will not stop fighting for Canadian democracy and human rights.