The Challenges of a Secular Quebec Bill 21 in Perspective

An in-depth analysis of the passing of Bill 21 in Quebec, a law steeped in religious implications.

In 2019, the Quebec National Assembly passed Bill 21. It prohibits, among other things, certain state employees in positions of authority (including teachers, prison guards, police officers, and justices of the peace) from wearing religious symbols when providing public services. Many political commentators denounced the move as running counter to Canadian multiculturalism and human rights. Why did the government adopt this form of state secularism? And why did it garner public support? The Challenges of a Secular Quebec provides illuminating answers to these questions and explores why many Quebecers consider the law legitimate. 

Contributors analyze the statute from different angles to provide a nuanced, respectful discussion of its intentions and principles. Given the province’s singular history in North America, the merits of the initiative to separate church and state must be considered within the Quebec context. The Challenges of a Secular Quebec calls for a legal interpretation of Bill 21 that is sensitive to this difference.

Lucia Ferretti is a professor in the Department of Humanities at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and a specialist in socio-religious history. 

François Rocher is a professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, where he has held the Jean-Luc Pepin Research Chair.

George Tombs is a translator, author, and filmmaker living in Quebec City.