IN QUEBEC, Canada’s French-speaking province, it is illegal to talk to a librarian while wearing sunglasses. So is using a bus pass while shrouded in a scarf, no matter how bitter the weather. These prohibitions are the consequence of a law enacted in October whose real purpose is to ban Muslim women from wearing niqabs, or face veils, when they provide or receive public services. By widening the ban to all sorts of face covering it seeks to deflect the charge that it is based on religious animus. It does the job as well as a see-through burqa.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the National Council of Canadian Muslims challenged the law in Quebec’s superior court on November 7th, saying it violates rights to sexual equality and religious freedom. The court is expected to rule soon on whether to suspend the prohibition on face coverings while it deliberates.
Quebec’s Liberal government, led by Philippe Couillard, is not the first to try to strip people of...Continue reading
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