Bill 21: Majority of Muslim women considered leaving Quebec for work

About 71 per cent of Muslim women surveyed in Quebec considered leaving the province for work due to the affects of Bill 21, during the pandemic. This is according to a new study published by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).

The study is called the ‘Social Discord and Second-Class Citizenship’ and includes, “research and insights into the damage that Bill 21 does to the social fabric of Quebec, as the law marginalizes Muslim women in ways that were previously unexamined.”

“We see that there’s an increase of discrimination across the board. The effects of Bill 21 are wide ranging,” said Stephen Brown, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims.

Bill 21 was passed in June 2019, five years ago, and bans people in positions of authority, like a teacher, judge, or police officer, from wearing religious symbols while on the job. Meaning they cannot wear a hijab, cross, turban, or kippah for example.

“What was somehow billed as a law that was going to reduce silos in society and end ghettoization is actually causing the Muslim community to feel attacked and to sort of turn in on itself and look to each other for support,” said Brown.

According to the research, 54 per cent of Muslim women have experienced racist and prejudicial comments from their colleagues and 49 per cent have experienced microaggressions in the workplace.

“Muslim women oftentimes are told that they don’t look appropriate for a particular job, that they should take off their hijab, that they’re somehow oppressed, that they’re not modern, that they’re not moderate, that they’re somehow proselytizing,” said Brown.

In addition, 73 per cent of the Muslim women surveyed in Quebec said that Bill 21 has affected their future work prospects.

Like Ghada Mohamed, a Muslim Quebecer who studied psychology and would like to teach it – but because of the secularism law, cannot.

“There was a post, they needed someone who can teach some aspects or some subjects in psychology and [my friend] sent me the link to apply. And when I see the link, they have some criteria, I fulfill all these criteria that they want. But I couldn’t apply because at the end there was a line telling us – because of the current law – if you’re wearing any religious [symbols] – you cannot apply. So I didn’t apply because only of this.”

“Such emigration would lead to an estimated lost income of around $3.2 billion,” reads the results.

The study was completed in collaboration with Abacus Data, Dr. Nadia Z. Hasan (York University) and co-authors Lina El-Bakir and Youmna Badawy.

“By combining in-depth interviews with 10 Muslim women, along with wide surveys with 411 Quebec Muslim women and 750 others in the general Quebec population completed in collaboration with Abacus Data, the study provides an essential snapshot of how Bill 21 systematically corners Muslim women into vulnerable positions as second-class citizens,” said Dr. Nadia Hasan, one of the authors of the report.

The study further explains how one in four Muslim women found it easier to work and job hunt while COVID-19 measures were in place.

Since Bill 21 became law, Muslim women in Quebec report feeling a lost sense of belonging, alongside high levels of alienation and bleak outlooks on the future, the survey report states.

“Ever since passing Bill 21 for many people in our community, it feels like a license has sort of been given for people to be more hostile towards public displays of religious affiliation,” said Brown.

Some 73 per cent have either applied for work outside of Quebec, or are considering it, and 66 per cent are thinking of working for Muslim organizations to avoid Bill 21’s scrutiny.

“Taking your most francophone and best educated group of immigrants or minorities and then passing laws that literally make them feel marginalized and excluded and annoy them full time, is a recipe not only for negatively impacting the economy of the province, but also the culture,” expressed Brown.

According to the NCCM, 64 per cent of the Muslim women surveyed expressed mistrust with the government, and 88 per cent feel that Quebec is a “much less welcoming place to live.”

Also, 90 per cent agreed that the province is an unwelcoming place to work because of Bill 21.

“They gave away the rights of minorities in Quebec, and for what? Right? In exchange for political gain. And so when you go on TV, and tell people that you’ve given away the rights of certain citizens because it’s politically expedient and then say, “this is how we live here”, it gives a license to people to treat them like second-class citizens,” said Brown.

“Until our political leadership has the profound conviction that everybody’s rights equally matter, until our political leadership has a conviction that the rights of some are not worth less than the anxieties of others, and that is a function of their identity, we are going to continue in this spiral,” he adds.

“The findings of this study confirm what we all know. The very real and damaging effects of taking away the fundamental rights of your own citizens.” said NCCM CEO Stephen Brown.