Vancouver won’t send $10K to support legal case against Quebec’s Bill 21
Posted February 9, 2022 11:00 pm.
Last Updated February 9, 2022 11:08 pm.
The City of Vancouver won’t be offering financial support to the court battle against Quebec’s Bill 21, a move advocates call a failure to take a stand against discrimination.
Hasan Alam, a Vancouver-based lawyer and community lead for the Islamophobia Assistance Legal Hotline, says council’s decision was disappointing.
“We need to obviously start by acknowledging that Bill 21 is an inherently racist bill. It targets people from Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish backgrounds. It’s not a jurisdiction issue. It’s a human issue that all of us as Canadians should care about, and quite frankly should be outraged over, and taking action with respect to,” he says, adding council passed a motion in 2019 opposing the legislation.
“It’s not willing to put money where its mouth is. It comes down to that. It certainly sends the wrong message.”
The law came into effect in June 2019. It prohibits public servants deemed to be in positions of authority — including teachers, judges, and police officers — from wearing religious symbols, such as turbans, kippas, and hijabs. Bill 21 is being challenged as unconstitutional by The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
In December of 2021, outrage over the bill was renewed after a Quebec teacher was removed from her position because of the law, pulled out of her role in the classroom and “reassigned.” Soon after, city councils in Brampton and Toronto pledged $100,000 each to support the court challenge. In January, Victoria approved a motion to send $9,500.
RELATED: Group leading lawsuit against Bill 21 welcomes financial support from Canadian municipalities
On Wednesday, Coun. Jean Swanson brought a motion asking for Vancouver to contribute $10,000 to the legal fight.
Guntaas Kaur, with the World Sikh Organization of Canada, spoke at the meeting, asking council to support the move.
“Money is one of those tangible acts when we give it to someone else, or give it to a cause — it speaks volumes. It speaks to the importance of the fight, it speaks to what principles you’re standing up for,” she said.
“It was one of those tangible acts that the city could take to support, not just the legal challenge, but to also demonstrate that their words of condemnation from 2019 were something they were continuing to stand behind. Irrespective of the amount, it’s what that money says.”
Motion to send $10,000 to support legal battle doesn’t pass
Swanson’s motion was defeated Wednesday. It needed eight votes in support to pass, and only got six.
Swanson repeatedly described the actual dollar amount as “measly,” saying she was asking for it to come out of the city’s $45-million reserve. She said the donation was significant not because of the dollar amount, but because of the message it would send.
“Nice words about how bad discrimination is are better than no words. But nice words plus action are a way better way to show real solidarity,” she said.
“Some people have said we have to be accountable to our residents and our taxpayers. Well, our residents are Muslims, our residents, our residents are Sikhs, our residents are racialized minorities who can be discriminated against, who are victims of hate that bills like this encourage.”
If you would like to contribute to help fight Bill 21 legally, here is the site: https://t.co/yQ0yLsLUQg
this is an important place for people who are not racialized to show solidarity with other residents who face discrimination and hate .— Jean Swanson (@JeanSwanson_) February 10, 2022
Mayor Kennedy Stewart spoke briefly in support.
“There’s all kinds of things we might do and should do in the future. But here’s the choice in front of us right now — and it would be embarrassing not to fund this.”
Those who opposed the move cited the strain on the city’s budget, saying difficult decisions had to be made not to support important local initiatives — including those supporting work to fight racism and foster equity and inclusion.
Coun. Lisa Dominato said she would be happy to make a personal donation, but would not support using municipal money.
“We have many, many challenges in our own backyard here, and we don’t seem to have enough resources to address a number of those challenges. I can’t support the financial ask in this motion today,” she said.
Kaur said she was disappointed to see the issue framed as one outside the city’s jurisdiction.
“Discrimination doesn’t stay within certain geographical boundaries, it doesn’t mean that Bill 21 is enacted in Vancouver, but we certainly feel as ripple effects as people of those communities,” she said.
“Geography and distance is not going to be a barrier against discrimination. We see the impact of that. We feel it. We experience it, sometimes on a daily basis. Unintended or not, the decision they’ve made, allows for people to consider this as permission, to continue to think that laws like Bill 21 are permissible in society that they’re acceptable as long as they’re not in Vancouver or B.C.”
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Alam said opposing Bill 21 means more than simply objecting to a piece of provincial legislation.
“Fighting this bill is something that should matter to everyone in Canada because as Canadians we profess to be a society that stands against racism and discrimination and that everyone stands equal society, but this is a discriminatory law that causes a certain section of our society to be designated as second class citizens,” he said.
“It’s giving tacit and outright approval to people within Quebec and outside of Quebec to discriminate. I think that emboldens and empowers white supremacists, people who have racist ideologies, or even individuals who may not ascribe to white supremacist ideology, but have pre-existing fears and anxieties around people who come from these backgrounds. I think it perpetuates those fears and turns them into something that’s legislated, something that is law.”
