Quebecs have seized control of a high court in Ontario to prevent Toronto from financing secular law. The verdict in their favor will send a signal to other Canadian cities that want to support the challenge.
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Historian Frédéric Bastien, attorneys Pierre Cloutier, Simon Cadotte and François Bouliane, and Torontonian Louis Labrecque filed a lawsuit on Friday demanding a $ 100,000 bail. Last December.
“It’s not their business to finance legal action in Quebec, it’s illegal. It is unacceptable for Anglo-Canadian cities to fund Bill 21 opposition groups in Quebec, ”said Frederick Bastian, the former PQ chief candidate and author of the book. Battle of London.
Movement
Last December, the Toronto City Council unanimously passed a resolution tabled by Mayor John Dory, with the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association presenting their challenge to the law on secularism. Religious symbols by civil servants in positions of authority, including teachers.
“We cannot simply sit idly by and watch as Torontoians and Canadians see such laws undermining the protection and respect for religious and other freedoms enshrined in our charter of Canadian rights and freedoms,” the mayor said at the end of the vote.
Other cities
The group, led by Frederick Bastian, named Quebec Justice and funded by donations from sympathizers, hopes a victory in Toronto will set a precedent for other Canadian cities to stop funding the struggle.
According to the professor and historian, the Queen’s approach is illegal because it “violates municipal law”.
“No one in Quebec could have imagined that the city of Montreal would begin to finance legal issues affecting the city of Ontario, Toronto,” said Frederick Bastian.
Although the movement began in Brampton, led by its mayor Patrick Brown, Frederick Bastian chose Toronto because he was shocked to see secular citizen Louise LeBreak use taxpayers’ money for his city.
“You have to have someone there to challenge you. Otherwise, we might have been told we were not interested in acting,” he underlines.
Cities sponsoring Bill 21 challenge
- Brampton : $ 100,000
- London : $ 100,000
- Toronto : $ 100,000
- Durham : $ 50,000
- Winnipeg : $ 20,000
- Kingston : $ 10,000
- Religion : $ 10,000
- Victoria : $ 9500
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