Local 514 welcomes journalist and editor Nora Loreto & lawyer for Amnesty International contesting Bill 21 and spokesperson for the Anti-Racist Decolonial Committee within Quebec Solidaire Sibel Ataogul to discuss how we can have a secular society without racism.

Since Bill 21 became a law in the summer of 2019 – some public servants wearing a religious symbol, including but not limited to the hijab, niqab, kippa, and turban are barred from working in a government job.

Nora has experience organizing against Islamophobia in Quebec and Sibel has mobilized to change Quebec Solidaire's position on secularism. Nora has also written about Law 21 and how it disproportionately affects women and Muslim women in particular, as 75% of Quebec teachers are women, according to statistics from 2019.

Both guests discuss the secular Law 62, its roots in Islamophobia, sexism and racism, and how we can push against laws like this, but move towards a society that is secular but does not promote racism, discrimination or sexism of any kind.

Both Sibel and Nora discuss how Law 21 is not unique, and Laws before this have come forward in Quebec established by the Parti Québécois and the provincial Liberal government. Sibel and Nora also discuss how we can fight this law and fight other laws that might be put forward in the future that are similar to Law 21 outside the courts.

This video follows the release of episode 4 of Local 514, focused on the secular law, Law 21, and how it is rooted in Islamophobia, racism and sexism, and how far the law can be taken by the Quebec government. To watch the full episode click here.