Supreme Court of Canada will hear legal challenge on Quebec secularism law

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The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a court challenge against Quebec's controversial secularism law, known as Bill 21.

The request for leave to appeal was granted on Thursday morning without any explanation, as is the court's custom.

Among other things, Bill 21 prohibits certain public workers in positions of authority, such as judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers, from wearing religious symbols while performing their duties.

Simon Jolin-Barrette, Quebec's justice minister, and Jean-François Roberge, the minister responsible for secularism, issued a joint statement saying Quebec would defend the law "until the end."