Bill 21: Canadian cities take the lead against Quebec

While Ottawa maintains that it wants to stay away from the legal battle surrounding Quebec State’s secular law, Canadian municipalities can, at the very least, jump into the fight, which makes Montreal “uncomfortable”.

Read more: Bill 21: “Turns a page” to NDP

The mayor of Toronto, Canada’s largest city, announced his intention to fund the city council’s protest on Thursday.

The Toronto City Council has repeatedly expressed opposition to the bill.

Today, I ask the city council to fund the legal battle against Bill 21, ”John Tory said on Twitter.

Calgary’s new mayor, Alta. Tory and Mrs. Contek followed in the footsteps of Mayor Patrick Brown of Brampton Municipality in the Greater Toronto area.

The latter sent a letter on Wednesday to the mayors of the country’s 100 largest cities inviting them to join the war.

In the city of Montreal, the office of Mayor Valerie Blande, Mr. Confirms what was investigated by Brown.

“Cities and provinces across the country have the right not to obey the law elsewhere. However, we are embarrassed that other Canadian cities are funding groups to oppose a law that falls within the jurisdiction of the Quebec government,” said Catherine Godot, the mayor’s press secretary.

The bill is now the law of the Quebec government and the city of Montreal complies with it. Similarly, according to his explanations, the city does not use public funds to compete with laws introduced by other provinces. Concerns such as gun management.

On Wednesday, Mr. Brown persuaded his council to provide $ 100,000 in funding to prosecution groups in Quebec, including the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the World Sikh Organization of Canada and Canadian civil rights. Association, all three of which are based in Ontario.

Other Canadian cities may also be added to the list.

The story of a Chelsea teacher who was recently transferred to another position at her elementary school in Outlays sent shockwaves across the country and gave new impetus to mobilization against the law.

Justin Trudeau’s government has opened the door to possible intervention, but wants to avoid the current conflict to avoid a direct confrontation with Quebec.

The NDP, for its part, changed its position by confirming its participation in the demonstration earlier this week, after arguing that it should not interfere in recent years. “The rest of Canada must understand and respect that Quebec is a unique country with the right to develop within its own characteristics within the Canadian Federation.

It is up to us to lay the groundwork for our coexistence, ”said Elizabeth Kozelin, who joined Quebec’s Justice Minister Simon-Jolin-Parade.

– In collaboration with Félix Lacerte-Gauthier