People congregate outside the Supreme Court of Canada as the court hears appeals regarding Quebec’s secularism law (Bill 21) in Ottawa on Monday, March 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

By The Canadian Press

Lawyers for Quebec government tell Supreme Court that Bill 21 is legitimate

Mar 24, 2026 | 9:25 AM

OTTAWA — Lawyers for the Quebec government argued in Supreme Court today that the province was within its rights when it adopted its secularism law, Bill 21.

The 2019 law bans some public sector workers from wearing religious symbols on the job, and the legislation includes a provision that overrides the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Isabelle Brunet, lawyer for the Quebec government, told the court that the province does not have to justify its use of the override provision, known as the notwithstanding clause.

Brunet says the clause shields laws from legal scrutiny, including from declaratory judgments — when judges declare that a Charter right has been violated but don’t issue a specific order for damages or other remedy.

However, Justice Nicholas Kasirer pushed back, saying there is nothing written in the Constitution that prohibits a judge from issuing a declaratory judgment on a law invoking the notwithstanding clause.

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On Monday, lawyers for the groups challenging Bill 21 told the court that the law goes too far in circumventing Charter rights and is unconstitutional.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.

— By Erika Morris in Montreal

The Canadian Press