Bill 21 won’t apply to province’s last resort for schools leaving many sidelined teachers outraged

Quebec students could have their classrooms supervised by parents if too many teachers fall sick with COVID – as a last resort – the province’s health ministry recently announced.

But Quebec’s secularism law – Bill 21 – which bans some public sector workers like teachers from wearing religious symbols while on the job – won’t apply to parent supervisors.

Some directly affected by the law, say this move reinforces why many believe Bill 21 is discriminatory.

“At the end of the day, there is no such thing as proselytizing students because if we’re inviting people who wear religious symbols to monitor classes. I don’t understand why teachers who wear religious symbols can’t teach,” said Amrit Kaur, a teacher who moved to B.C. After Bill 21 and board member with World Sikh Organization.

In December, a teacher that wears a hijab was removed from her teaching position because it violated the law in Chelsea, Quebec.

“She didn’t want to remove her Sikh turban to work. So, she took a teaching job in B.C. instead of Quebec, where there’s already a shortage,” added Kaur.

“Right now in education, it is extremely hard to find qualified teachers and especially with COVID, teachers are dropping like flies. The cases are going up, teachers are getting sick, and they need replacements.”

“And now that we do have shortage even more and we need more teachers and yet there are no more left,” said Maha Kassef, elementary school teacher grandfathered by Bill 21. “Now we’re saying we’re going to allow this group of people coming in and all the rules we put into place don’t apply? It just doesn’t make sense.

“It’s sad that you have qualified professionals who can do the job but they’re being put on the sidelines and being replaced by people that are not necessarily qualified,” he added.

Kassef is technically part of the grandfather clause for Bill 21. She’s able to wear her hijab on the job, but that only applies if she stays in her current role. That means she can’t accept a promotion or a lateral move without losing that exemption.

She says the government’s last resort rule seems like flip-flopping on secularism.

“Here’s another instance where they show they were being hypocrites where they were enforcing double standards,” she added.

An Instagram video of a Hijabi woman criticizing the move has garnered attention – calling on the government to “make it make sense”.

In a statement to CityNews, Quebec’s education ministry says, “the law on state secularism applies to all Quebecers. […] article 6, which prohibits the wearing of religious symbols, applies to certain state employees in positions of authority, including teachers and school principals. This article is not aimed at supervisors. […] that said, they will have to exercise their functions with their faces uncovered as provided for by articles 7 and 8 of the law.”

“A good number of my friends and people that I’m reading online saying, ‘Ok so if they call me I’m putting on a hijab and walking in,’ just to make a point,” Kassef told CityNews.

“I hope that with having different people in the classroom now, having more diversity that the larger society will see Bill 21 has no substance,” Kaur explained.