Mayor Jim Watson is slamming Bill 62 and says OC Transpo drivers will not follow Quebec's controversial religious neutrality law, when driving routes into Gatineau.
In a sharply-worded letter to Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard, Watson denounces the "regressive legislation" which requires people receiving a public service to uncover their faces.
The mayor then directly addresses concerns about how the law will impact OC Transpo buses venturing across the river, as well as STO buses that serve parts of downtown Ottawa.
"I trust you have no expectation that the City of Ottawa's bus drivers, who also serve residents of the City of Gatineau, will take any steps to enforce this legislation and, to be abundantly clear, they will be instructed not to," says Watson in the statement.
Watson also acknowledges that many Ottawa residents access services in Quebec.
"I am saddened that, in doing so, they will not enjoy the same freedoms as they do in Ottawa," Watson says, in his letter to the Quebec Premier.
Speaking to reporters after city council on Wednesday, Watson says the law is demeaning to women.
"This is a government telling a woman how she should dress and that's absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous," says Watson. "And I think we have to be very clear for our employees that we're not going to adhere to a law that makes no sense at all."
On Tuesday, Quebec Minister of Justice Stéphanie Vallée tried to clarify the law saying women wearing the niqab or burka would only be required to uncover their faces on public transit when photo identification is required.