Protesters plan to target Quebec’s incoming premier, Francois Legault, on Sunday over his vow to ban the Muslim hijab in the provincial civil service. As the Canadian Press reports, activists say they could attract “at least 1,000 people” to the event.
Legault said this week that he is prepared to overrule the Supreme Court of Canada if it objects to his hijab ban.
The protesters claim objecting to the hijab being worn in the government workplace is “anti-feminist.”
“It isn’t for the state to tell a woman what she can or cannot wear,” Safa Chebbi of the group Alternatives insisted. “It is unacceptable. We reject this freedom-killing and anti-feminist law.”
Teachers in the province are being encouraged to wear religious symbols to work next week since the potential ban will not just target Muslim headgear but all religious imagery being worn at a government job.
Although the protest was scheduled to proceed no matter who won Monday’s provincial election, the protesters told reporters that Premier-elect Legault is advancing thinly-veiled racism by promising to eliminate the hijab from the public service.
Anti-immigration French political leader Marine LePenn endorsed Legault’s election victory but the Quebec politician quickly disassociated himself and his party from LePenn’s remarks.