Ottawa's request for limits on notwithstanding clause a 'direct attack' on Bill 21, Quebec says

Members of François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec government weren't mincing their words Thursday when reacting to Ottawa's intervention in the Supreme Court of Canada's case on Quebec's secularism law, known as Bill 21.

In his brief filed with the Supreme Court of Canada, Attorney General Sean Fraser didn't attack the provisions of Bill 21 — which prohibit public sector workers in positions of authority, including teachers and judges, from wearing religious symbols on the job — but raised concerns over the use the notwithstanding clause.

The Charter clause can be used by provinces to shield legislation from constitutional challenges, as Quebec did when it passed its secularism law in 2019.

In it's filing, the federal government urged the court to set limits on how the notwithstandi