The federal government has named a Montreal lawyer as a judge to Quebec Superior Court about a year after he made headlines during a legal challenge to Quebec’s controversial Bill 21 legislation, which bars public-sector workers from wearing religious symbols in the name of protecting secularism. 

In 2020, Azimuddin Hussain represented the Coalition Inclusion Quebec before Quebec Superior Court when he brought up many historic examples of discriminatory laws in Canada and abroad. He intended to show that by allowing a type of discrimination protected by the Canadian Constitution’s notwithstanding clause, the courts would let Bill 21 open the door to