The Gazette déçue que la commission scolaire anglaise ne défie par la loi 21
The scene playing out in front of Westmount High School last spring was at once one of seething disdain and jolly pride. The protestors who gathered in front of the school, many defiantly wearing kippas, hijabs and the like, loudly decried Bill 21 and its prohibition on the wearing of religious clothing at work by teachers and certain staff. Though no doubt heartfelt, their anger was leavened by the English Montreal School Board’s decision, announced with great fanfare days before, to ignore the bill should it become law. Translation: EMSB teachers and principals were safe from this frankly egregious law. “We can never be afraid of saying and doing what is right, even if there’s going to be consequences,” EMSB vice-chair Joe Ortona told me at the time.