Bill 21 at the Supreme Court: It’s all about the Notwithstanding Clause

Hearings in the legal challenge of Quebec’s Bill 21 wrapped up at the Supreme Court of Canada last Thursday, with Chief Justice Richard Wagner saying “the court will take the necessary time to carefully examine all the issues.”

Julius Grey, who is representing TALQ, the community organization, seemed satisfied with how the week went. “All the appellates argued and got their points across,” he tells The Suburban. “We saw certain areas especially with the Notwithstanding Clause where there was some skepticism from the bench.”

And despite an exchange earlier in the week between Grey and Chief Justice Wagner in which Wagner called some of Grey’s arguments regarding diversity “outrageous,” Grey rejects the notion that some on the bench might have shown bias. “They had genuine questions.”