Senator Omidvar: Senator Gold, I’m going to quote you from your statement that you delivered in May 2019. You said:

. . . as senators, we are not the agents or representatives of our provincial governments. We were also not appointed to simply channel the opinions of the public, even if the public takes a strong stand. . . . we have the responsibility to act in the national interest, and it is in the national interest that we defend the rights of religious minorities when they are targeted by discriminatory legislation.

Senator Gold, are you repeating these words to your cabinet colleagues in government?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is for the representative of the government in the Senate, Senator Gold.

Senator Gold, the Senate and the Government of Canada has an obligation to protect minorities across Canada. Yesterday, we heard from our colleague Senator Ataullahjan about the impact of Bill 21 in Quebec on one particular teacher, Fatemeh Anvari, who was removed from her teaching job because she wears a hijab.

As we all know, Quebec has invoked the “notwithstanding” clause on Bill 21. At the time the Charter was negotiated, then minister of justice Jean Chrétien said in the other place that the intention of the “notwithstanding” clause was only to be used to correct absurd situations.

Senator Gold, this is not an absurd situation. As we see, it has a real-life impact on individuals. What is the Government of Canada going to do to protect the rights of minorities no matter where they live, and what is the government planning to do to challenge this potential overreach of the use of the “notwithstanding” clause?