Court of Appeal refuses to hear case
The decree prohibiting spaces for prayer in Quebec schools is maintained. The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by a Muslim organization and a civil liberties group challenging the measure on Wednesday.
"The applicants do not convince me that the proposed appeal regarding the refusal to immediately suspend the effects of the decree has a reasonable chance of success, particularly in view of the presumption of validity enjoyed by this decree, which aims to maintain the secular character of Quebec's public schools," wrote Justice Robert Mainville.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the National Council of Canadian Muslims had asked the Court of Appeal to hear their challenge to the first instance decision earlier this week.
According to the applicants, "the sole purpose of this decree would be to restrict the exercise of the fundamental right of freedom of religion without any justification," reads the judgment issued in Montreal. They consider the "violation of this right" to be "flagrant".
"However, as the trial judge concluded and as the Order itself states, the object concerned is the question of maintaining the secularism of public schools," Mainville J. counterargued. This is a complex issue that does not lend itself to simplistic analysis and simplistic responses. »
The Court of Appeal stated that the effects of the decree did not justify immediate judicial intervention as requested by the two groups, who wanted the government directive suspended.
In April, Education Minister Bernard Drainville banned public schools from creating prayer spaces for students, based on the province's policy of institutional secularism.
On the one hand, Minister Bernard Drainville maintained that it would be possible for the students concerned to pray, provided they do so discreetly and silently. On the other hand, the applicants argued that the prayers required Muslims to perform certain specific rites and deplored the fact that young people had been threatened with disciplinary measures for attempting to pray.
In June, the Quebec Superior Court rejected an application for an injunction with the same objective as the appeal filed this week. Judge Lukasz Granosik also referred to the non-urgency of the situation in his decision.
The petition was filed on behalf of a 16-year-old Muslim student at a Montreal-area high school who had been assigned a place to pray during his lunch hour, and who lost Wednesday following the government decree.
"The applicants do not convince me that the proposed appeal regarding the refusal to immediately suspend the effects of the decree has a reasonable chance of success, particularly in view of the presumption of validity enjoyed by this decree, which aims to maintain the secular character of Quebec's public schools," wrote Justice Robert Mainville.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the National Council of Canadian Muslims had asked the Court of Appeal to hear their challenge to the first instance decision earlier this week.
According to the applicants, "the sole purpose of this decree would be to restrict the exercise of the fundamental right of freedom of religion without any justification," reads the judgment issued in Montreal. They consider the "violation of this right" to be "flagrant".
"However, as the trial judge concluded and as the Order itself states, the object concerned is the question of maintaining the secularism of public schools," Mainville J. counterargued. This is a complex issue that does not lend itself to simplistic analysis and simplistic responses. »
The Court of Appeal stated that the effects of the decree did not justify immediate judicial intervention as requested by the two groups, who wanted the government directive suspended.
In April, Education Minister Bernard Drainville banned public schools from creating prayer spaces for students, based on the province's policy of institutional secularism.
On the one hand, Minister Bernard Drainville maintained that it would be possible for the students concerned to pray, provided they do so discreetly and silently. On the other hand, the applicants argued that the prayers required Muslims to perform certain specific rites and deplored the fact that young people had been threatened with disciplinary measures for attempting to pray.
In June, the Quebec Superior Court rejected an application for an injunction with the same objective as the appeal filed this week. Judge Lukasz Granosik also referred to the non-urgency of the situation in his decision.
The petition was filed on behalf of a 16-year-old Muslim student at a Montreal-area high school who had been assigned a place to pray during his lunch hour, and who lost Wednesday following the government decree.
