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Trudeau, Legault sit down in Montreal for first meeting since federal election

Dec 13, 2019 | 1:08 PM

MONTREAL — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with Quebec Premier Francois Legault in Montreal today to shore up points of agreement and hash out differences over the province’s secularism law.

On his way into the meeting, Trudeau said infrastructure, the environment and the new North American free trade deal are all on the agenda.

Legault said they will also discuss Bill 21, which bans some public-sector employees from wearing religious symbols.

Legault acknowledges that the two first ministers will “probably agree to disagree” on the law, which the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled Thursday should not be suspended as several cases continue to wind through the court system.

Trudeau has left open the possibility of federal intervention in the case but has so far stayed on the sidelines.

The prime minister has been meeting with premiers following an October election that threw into relief the regional fault lines that helped reduce his government to a minority.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 13, 2019.

 

The Canadian Press