Last week, headlines in Quebec were dominated by accounts from a Montreal elementary school where 11 teachers were suspended for allegedly creating a toxic work environment. Speaking to reporters, Quebec Premier François Legault described the situation as a group of teachers trying to “introduce Islamic religious concepts” into a public school.
Naturally, the news set off heated conversations about the role of religion in the secular school system and the merits of Quebec’s controversial Bill 21, which bans public servants in positions of authority—teachers, police officers, doctors and judges—from wearing religious symbols such as Christian crosses, Muslim hijabs, Sikh dastars and Jewish kippahs.
Fatemeh Anvari, an English teacher from Tehran with a master’s in education from the University of Ottawa, wrote about her experience with Bill 21 for Maclean’s.She describes how she was happily teaching a Grade 3 class in Gatineau in 2023 when her school’s principal pulled her aside and told her she had to stop wearing her hijab in the classroom. Anvari refused and was sent home that very day. “I haven’t returned to teaching,” she writes. “I won’t stop advocating for the repeal of Bill 21. The fight isn’t just for Muslim women but for everyone—Sikhs, Jews, Christians. All of us are affected by this law, and all of us deserve better.”
—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief
