“On secularism (they) finance the actions up to the Supreme Court against Quebec with the money of Quebecers. White hat, white hat,” he sent after a triumphant entry into the room where his caucus meets, in Laval.
Bill 21 prohibits some public sector workers, such as teachers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols at work, but groups, such as the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the School Board English-Montreal wants to appeal to the highest court in the country.
This law preemptively invokes section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the legislation from any legal challenge regarding violations of fundamental rights.
In his speech, Mr. Blanchet promised that the Bloc will be “the voice” of Quebec and launched several attacks against its adversaries, judging them to be out of touch with Quebecers on linguistic issues and criticizing them in terms of health financing and about “intrusions” in areas of jurisdiction regarding housing or public transportation.
“The Conservatives have already chosen to be the voice of Western oil. It does not serve Quebec, neither environmentally nor economically, he continued. The Liberals, whoever they choose as leader, have chosen to be the voice of Toronto’s banks. It won’t serve Quebec either.”
-Mr. Blanchet said that the relationship between Canada and its North American neighbors will be at the heart of the next election campaign.
“We would have liked to be formally at the table. And let’s hope that this is the last free trade negotiation where Canada will speak for Quebec,” he said.
In the meantime, his “most important” request is that Quebec’s economic weight be reflected in “any kind of institution or forum” that will be put in place for this negotiation.
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, he estimated, for example, that the fact that the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, had only appointed the former Prime Minister of Quebec Jean Charest to the advisory committee on Canadian relations -American remained insufficient.
