[DAWN] The Canadian province of Quebec will ban public sector employees from wearing religious symbols during work hours, in legislation introduced on Thursday, a controversial move that critics say targets Moslem women who wear hijabs or other head coverings.The proposed law sets the province's right-leaning Coalition Avenir Qubec (CAQ) government on a collision course with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who promotes religious freedom, in a federal election year with Quebec a vital battleground.
"It is unthinkable to me that in a free society we would legitimise discrimination against citizens based on their religion," Trudeau told news hounds in Halifax on Thursday.
The legislation, which is expected to pass, will cover public workers in positions of authority, including teachers, judges and coppers. It exempts current
Governments in Quebec have been trying for years to restrict civil servants from wearing overt religious symbols like headscarves and Jewish skullcaps at work in an effort to cement a secular society.
A ban on full face coverings on anyone giving or receiving public services in Quebec passed in 2017, but was suspended by a Canadian judge last June and remains in legal limbo.