Montreal teachers vow to ignore 'stupid, wrongheaded' religious symbols ban

Quebec premier says proposed law is necessary to separate church and state but educators say they won’t be cowed

Martin Patriquin in Montreal
Fri 5 Apr 2019 10.00 BST Last modified on Fri 5 Apr 2019 15.35 BST

Montreal’s Westmount high school last made headlines as the alma mater of the US senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

It now has another distinction: the first Quebec school to publicly commit to ignoring the province’s proposed secularism law, which would ban primary and secondary school teachers, among certain other provincial government employees, from wearing religious symbols.

Teachers, students and parents recently gathered on the school steps in protest against Bill 21, which the government introduced in Quebec’s national assembly last week. As well as teachers, all employees in positions of authority – including judges, public prosecutors, prison guards, police and liquor inspectors – will be prohibited from wearing religious symbols, including the Star of David, the cross or the hijab.

“It would change the culture at the school. I tell my students that they can do anything if they try. Now I’d have to tell some students that they can’t do everything that everyone else can do,” said Arielle Shiller, 28, a physical education teacher at the school.

At the protest, Shiller wore a Star of David necklace and a kippa. “I’m not going to change, and I don’t think my work will make me,” she said.

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