‘It is very shocking’: Parents react after Quebec teacher removed from position for wearing a hijab

A school teacher in Chelsea, Quebec has been removed from her position because she wears a hijab.

The Western Quebec School Board confirms it had no choice but to remove the Grade 3 teacher from Chelsea Elementary School because of Bill 21 — a provincial law banning some civil servants from wearing religious symbols at work.

“What happened was the teacher did speak to the press and gave out information which is now public, that she was in contravention of Bill 21 wasn’t prepared to change her position on it,” Wayne Daly, Interim Chair for the Western Quebec School Board told CityNews.

“[She] was at the school for approximately a month. So she came in to replace the teacher who went on leave mid October and unfortunately, now she’s not able to to continue that role,” Amanda DeGrace, a parent of three children at Chelsea Elementary, said.

“Everyone I spoke to absolutely loved [her]. She was very welcoming. She was an excellent teacher. She had a great relationship with her students. She brought a very positive environment to the classroom, which especially now as we are still moving through the COVID-19 pandemic,” DeGrace said.

Parents were notified of the removal via email on Dec. 3, which was obtained by CityNews.

“We know many parents are upset about what has happened. We strongly oppose any decision based on a controversial provincial law that is contrary to basic rights and freedoms that Canadians believe are necessary in a free and democratic society,” the letter read.

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“We urge everyone to inform themselves on the problematic nature of Bill 21, its infraction on our human rights, and the impacts it is currently having on our students and teachers alike,” the letter continued.

Students and staff have since tied green ribbons at the school and wrote messages of support for the teacher since her removal.

“I sat my children down last night as there are now green ribbons being placed along the fence at school,” DeGrace said.

“I felt it was important that I spoke to them. And they understood what the situation was. It’s a very challenging conversation to have as a parent. But unfortunately, we need to have these challenging conversations with our children.”

Green ribbons can be seen tied to a fence outside a school in Chelsea, Quebec, where a teacher was removed from her post because she wore a hijab.

The school board says the woman won’t be back in the classroom and has been assigned another role at the school.

“We do object to this bill. But–and there’s always a but–by the same token, that we are representatives of the Quebec government,” Daly continued. “We work for the Quebec government, this is a legitimate law in the province of Quebec, we are citizens of the province of Quebec, and as such are expected to follow the legitimate laws of the province of Quebec.”

“It is very shocking,” DeGrace said. “It is very disturbing that we are seeing Bill 21 come into action and actually play out. I think for a long time many of us heard the bill was coming into play, and we opposed it. But I believe that a lot of us thought you know, it’s not going to affect us or we may not see it actually come into action.

“To see it happen to see it happen right here in our small little community and our small elementary school. And to know the person it has the direct impact on and the students in the classroom is absolutely devastating and shocking.”

“This form of second class citizenship in Quebec is is disturbing and is punishing minorities by withholding their identities,” Fatema Abdalla with the National Council of Canadian Muslims said.

“We’re at this point where minority communities have been targeted enough. And once again, we’re seeing the gruesome effects of it with a hijab teacher being removed from her classroom. This is disturbing and enough is enough,” Abdalla added.

Ever since the passing of the bill into law, Daly said that has made it more difficult to find qualified candidates to fill the teaching positions.

“I mean, nobody can contest that it’s making it more difficult to get good quality teachers who are in short supply these days, who are, you know, able to do the job adequately,” he said.

“It’s not a matter of how much it affects the school board’s matter of we object to this policy of saying that because of something that a person has, or a symbol that a person has that has no effect on you whatsoever, that this person can be denied position within the government is disturbing, if nothing else,” Daly said.

— With files from Breakfast Television and Xiao Li