Hijab-wearing teacher's removal sparks debate on Quebec's Bill 29

An elementary school teacher in Chelsea, Quebec, was removed from her post for wearing a hijab inside the classroom - an alleged violation of the province's Bill 29, sparking anew a heated debate in Canada. Bill 29 prohibits "certain persons from wearing religious symbols while exercising their functions." It extends to clothing, jewellery, an adornment, an accessory, or headwear that is worn in connection with a religious belief or is "reasonably considered as referring to a religious affiliation."

The bill, passed as a law in 2019, covers people in authority, including police officers, lawyers, judges, and teachers, except those who are hired before March 2019. As such, when the third-grade teacher from Chelsea - hired only in October - wore her hijab earlier this month, she was dismissed from her job – a move that prompted backlash from the public and weighted statements from government officials.

Quebec Premier François Legault said that the school board should not have hired the teacher in the first place considering the province's Bill 21. He defended the law saying that it was "voted democratically by the National Assembly," adding that it is only enforced during work and people are still allowed to express their religious beliefs at home and anywhere else.

"I think it’s a reasonable law, a balanced law," he said as quoted by CTV News, adding that the province "made the choice of secularism" and it "must be respected."

Read more: Religious symbol ban: What does this mean for HR?

The backlash against the bill has reached even the Federal government, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed disagreement over the legislation and said he is open to intervening in a legal battle against it.

"I always said very clearly I deeply disagree with Bill 21. I don’t find that in a free and open society that someone should lose their job because of their religion," he told reporters.

Jagmeet Singh, New Democratic Party leader, said that he would support federal intervention on Bill 21, describing the case of the elementary school teacher as "discrimination."

"Now is the moment to be very clear and say if this case gets to the federal level, then the federal government should support the three million Quebecers who are opposed to this law and opposed to discrimination," he said as quoted by CTV News.

Conservative leader Erin O'Toole also expressed disagreement with the law, but said the issue is best left for Quebecers to decide, The Guardian reported. Hundreds of people are still protesting over the case, CTV News Ottawa reported, expressing their disagreement for the elementary teacher's dismissal for wearing a hijab.