By Les Perraux @ TheGlobe​andMail.com, 1 hr. ago

François Legault’s government passed a ban on some public servants wearing religious symbols in a final vote late Sunday night, enshrining into law a measure decried by opposition parties, minority groups and human-rights observers as an affront to personal liberty [....]

Bill 21 will ban teachers, police, government lawyers and others in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols such as Muslim head coverings and Sikh turbans. Police officers, provincial jail guards and prosecutors who wear religious symbols are rare in Quebec but the province has dozens of female Muslim teachers. Religiously dressed teachers already on the job will have acquired rights to continue wearing the garments but they will not be able to take a transfer, promotion or new job and wear them.

The law will also require people receiving or giving government services to uncover their faces for security purposes or confirming identity – a measure that mostly affects Muslim women who wear a full-face veil.

The law includes the notwithstanding clause to prevent challenges based on religious freedom under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also modifies Quebec’s Charter of Rights to reduce religious rights, marking the first time the National Assembly changed the landmark 1975 rights legislation without a consensus [....]