Article content

MONTREAL — A national Muslim organization is joining civil liberties advocates to launch a court challenge of Quebec’s secularism law less than 24 hours after the legislation was adopted.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association announced their challenge today. Representatives say they’ll unveil their legal strategy at a news conference this afternoon in Montreal.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Muslim group, civil liberties advocates launch challenge of Quebec’s secularism bill one day after it becomes law Back to video

The Coalition Avenir Quebec government used its majority to push through Bill 21 by a vote of 73 to 35 Sunday night after applying the mechanism of closure to end debate on the bill.

Quebec’s new law prohibits public workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols on the job. The law applies to teachers, police officers, judges, prosecutors and others.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims says one of the plaintiffs in the court challenge is a Muslim university student in Quebec who wears a hijab and is studying to work in a field affected by the new law.