Category: Other

First published in the Globe and Mail on Oct 25, 2016 While Wallonia’s opposition to the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement has received considerable attention, a recent decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court shows that CETA faces more fundamental hurdles than most Canadian and European leaders are willing to acknowledge. On Oct. 13, the constitutional court declined to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the German government from signing CETA. While it allowed Germany to sign, a careful reading of the decision reveals that it gave CETA a very qualified green light and contains several important lessons for Canada.

The Parti Québécois government wants to ban Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish kippas and other “overt” religious symbols from the public service. Among other things, if the ban becomes law, public service employees would not be allowed to wear such symbols. There is so much to say about this, so I won’t even start.