Legault says he understands 'preoccupation' with Bill 21 judge's alleged bias

Quebec Premier François Legault offered a brief shout-out on Tuesday to Quebecers "preoccupied" with the alleged bias of a judge involved in a case related to the province's secularism law.

During a media scrum at the National Assembly, Legault was asked if public trust in the legal system could be shaken by the debate over Nicole Duval Hesler, the chief justice of the province's Court of Appeal.

"Certainly to maintain public trust requires impartiality and the appearance of impartiality," Legault said. "So I understand that some Quebecers are preoccupied about what the judge said."

Later, Legault said that the separation of powers prevented him from giving his opinion, but he said again that he saw that some Quebecers were "preoccupied," and that he understood why.

The word was chosen carefully; earlier in the day before the scrum, Le Devoir reported that Legault would use it. 

Duval Hesler presided over a hearing last week in which two civil rights groups sought to have the law, known as Bill 21, suspended while it is being challenged in court. Bill 21 bans some civil servants, including teachers, government lawyers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols.

In a complaint filed with Canada's judicial council, historian Frédéric Bastien said that, during the hearing, Duval Hesler declared herself a feminist when she should have kept her personal ideologies to herself. 

She also said the law specifically targets Muslim women who wear hijabs, while the text itself does not mention Muslim women specifically, he said in the complaint.

Legault noted that the matter before the Court of Appeal is about suspending the law, and not about the substance of the law itself. 

"The Superior Court went in our favour, so we'll wait and see the decision before explaining how we'll make sure that Bill 21 is applied," he said.

Legault referred further questions to Quebec Justice Minister Sonia LeBel, who declined to comment.

Pierre Arcand, the interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, said he did not think Legault "should intervene directly" in the matter because government structures already exist to deal with complaints of this nature — in this case the judicial council, the body responsible for disciplining federally appointed judges.

Arcand declined to say whether Legault's reference to Quebecers' preoccupation with Duval Hesler amounted to an intervention.