Canada's largest Muslim organisation is outraged over a bill introduced by the Quebec government that would ban headscarves for school support staff and students.
Bill 94, tabled on Thursday, would cover not just teachers, as is now the case under the existing secularism law, but support staff, volunteers and students as well.
The ban not only covers hijab, but also face covering, with the explanatory notes saying Muslim girls will "have their face uncovered when they are on the premises placed at the disposal of a school."
The same rule applies to Muslim parents picking up their children from school.
"In Quebec, we made the decision that state and the religion are separate," said Education Minister Bernard Drainville, CBC News reported. "And today, we say the public schools are separate from religion."
But the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), who are challenging in the Supreme Court the original bill that forbids religious symbols being worn by teachers, say the new bill is another infringement on their rights and unfairly targets hijab-wearing Muslims.
"This renewed attack on the fundamental rights of our community is just one of several recent actions taken by this historically unpopular government to bolster their poll numbers by attacking the rights of Muslim Canadians," the NCCM said in a social media post.
"This is the most important civil liberties battle in our lifetime."
Expanding ban
The bill is expanding on Bill 21, which bans certain public sectors from wearing religious symbols.
"We are challenging Bill 21 at the Supreme Court of Canada with our partners the CCLA," NCCM said.
The ban, meant to separate the state from religion, also outlaws Christian crosses, Jewish kippahs and Sikh turbans.
The new bill follows reports of problems involving alleged contravention of the current secular bill at 17 Quebec schools.
Bill 94 also demands teachers undergo an annual review and says employees at French-language schools can only speak in French with students and staff. French is the official language in Quebec.
