Supreme Court's Bill 21 decision could slip past Quebec election
Chief Justice Wagner says the verdict on the secularism law may not arrive before the October vote, leaving the constitutional question unresolved.
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The Supreme Court's ruling on Bill 21 may not come until after Quebec's October election, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said Tuesday during his annual press conference.
Wagner said he cannot predict when the verdict will be delivered. "It could be delivered next week, or it could be delivered in several months," he told reporters. The court has granted resigning judge Sheilah L. Martin a six-month window to complete her judgment, a standard accommodation that would extend until November 30.
The case was one of the highest-profile the court has handled — four days of hearings and the largest number of interveners in the court's history, Wagner noted. Bill 21 prohibits certain state employees in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols and requires anyone offering or receiving a service from the state to have their face uncovered.
The timing uncertainty leaves the secularism debate unresolved as voters head to the polls this fall.