QUEBEC – Two Canadian Muslim groups have filed a legal suit against a new Quebec bill banning face-covers, including the burqa or face-veil, saying the law “gravely infringes” on the religious rights of some Muslims in the province.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Marie-Michelle Lacoste, a Quebec woman who converted to Islam in 2003, filed the suit in Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday.
The legislation, known as Bill 62, effectively bans public servants and those who receive public services from wearing a face covering, including Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil).
The ban will be in force across municipal services, such as public transit.
The move was condemned by critics who worried that it deliberately targets Muslim women and could potentially exclude women who wear the niqab or burqa from accessing health services, sitting for school exams, or even riding the bus.
Wading into the debate on Quebec’s burqa ban, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stressed values of religious freedom, adding that governments should not tell women what to wear.
The challenge takes direct aim at the section of the law that forces public sector employees and private citizens to have their face uncovered when giving or receiving public services.
“This requirement directly infringes the freedom of religion of individuals, such as Muslim women, who cover their faces as a religious practice,” it said.
“The Act thus precludes certain Muslim women, including affiants in these proceedings, from receiving various public services unless they act contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Quebec Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee said that the legislation doesn’t target any religious group, adding that her government is on a stable footing for an eventual court challenge.