Supreme Court of Canada set to decide whether to hear a challenge to Quebec’s use of the notwithstanding clause

The Supreme Court of Canada, after an unusually long deliberation, will decide Thursday whether to hear a challenge to the ability of governments to override parts of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in passing laws.At issue is Quebec’s Bill 21, enacted and in force since mid-2019 and fought in the courts ever since. In its aim to promote a secular Quebec, the bill bans public service workers, such as teachers and police, from wearing religious symbols on the job. The law upended the lives of numerous Quebeckers.