WATERLOO, QC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers representing Quebec charitable organization Groupe Jaspe will be in court on Monday, February 10, 2025. This case is an important test of religious freedom in Quebec and Canada.
The hearing will take place at 9:00 a.m. ET at the Waterloo Municipal Court: 417, rue de la Cour, Waterloo, Québec, J0E 2N0.
On October 30, 2024, Groupe Jaspe challenged the prosecution, raising constitutional defences. They assert that the municipality has violated Groupe Jaspe’s freedom of religion – protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The city ticketed a member of the religious charity for going door-to-door with a message about suicide prevention and the value of life.
Groupe Jaspe was founded in 1999 by Claude Tremblay after his son committed suicide. In an effort to “break isolation and promote dialogue with suicidal and desparate people,” Mr. Tremblay set out to knock on every door in Quebec’s 1,000 cities and towns. With the help of 70 volunteers, Groupe Jaspe has connected with the residents of 50 cities and 771 villages with a powerful message of hope.
This is not the first time the organization has gone to court on this issue. In 2015, Claude Tremblay was ticketed for soliciting without a permit while canvassing in a village – a violation of municipal bylaws. A municipal court declared that the bylaws were unenforceable because Mr. Tremblay enjoyed a constitutional right to freedom of religion, as described in a 2003 Quebec Court of Appeal decision, Blainville (Ville) c. Beauchemin, 2003.
Since then, various Quebec municipalities have acknowledged the right to religious freedom as a result of the 2003 Blainville case.
However, Waterloo’s city prosecutor has decided to pursue the ticket charge on the grounds that the law has changed since the province adopted the Loi sur la Laicité de l’État and a body of subsequent case law.
The Loi sur la Laicité de l’État, known in English as An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State but sometimes referred to as Quebec’s “secularism law,” was passed in 2019. It establishes “the separation of state and religion, the state’s religious neutrality, the equality of all citizens and freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.” It has stirred controversy because it led to a prohibition against civil servants wearing religious symbols at work. The City prosecutor in this case appears to think that Quebec’s secularism law permits Waterloo to violate the religious freedom of Groupe Jaspe.
Lawyer Olivier Séguin stated, “Since the Loi sur la Laïcité in 2019, incidents have been multiplying in which public authorities seem to believe that they have the right, if not the duty, to marginalize religious expression. However, this is not the case, and I intend to convince the court of this on Monday.”
