No consensus at Quebec niqab hearings
CBC News
There was little consensus on Tuesday as hearings began in Quebec's legislature on a draft law that would force Muslim women who wear full face coverings for religious reasons to remove them before receiving certain public services.
The proposed law — Bill 94 — was tabled earlier this year following a controversy over a Montreal woman who refused to uncover her face while attending publicly funded French-language classes for new immigrants.
A woman wearing a niqab at a protest against Bill 94 in front of Montreal City Hall in April. The proposed bill would require Muslim women to remove their face coverings in order to receive some government services. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)The bill does not specifically mention any particular religion but says anyone seeking a public service related to security, communication or identification must show their face.
The controversy was sparked by Naïma Atef Amed, who is of Egyptian origin and wears a niqab.
Amed filed a complaint earlier this year with the province's human rights commission after she was kicked out of a government-funded language class at the CÉGEP de Saint-Laurent in Montreal.
"We're essentially tabling this legislation to respond to an interest in the community to deal with reasonable accommodation [of minorities]," said Justice Minister Kathleen Weil on Tuesday.
"Some of the principal points of the legislation is to determine what is reasonable and what isn't."
The opposition Parti Québécois said the legislation is too weak and that only a full-blown law declaring secularism is acceptable.
"You never solve anything without principles and clear answers to clear questions," said the party's immigration critic, Louise Beaudoin.
"For example, you could still have obvious [religious symbols], wear obvious [symbols] in the civil service, except the niqab and the burqa."
Some groups say the bill might be an infringement of Charter rights, such as freedom of religion.
Even though the bill does not say so explicitly, it is de facto targeting Muslims, said Dominique Peschard, president of the Quebec League of Rights and Liberties.
The head of Quebec's bar association, Pierre Chagnon, warned that Charter rights, such as freedom of religion, must be taken into account.
Chagnon said the bill may go too far.
If enacted as it is, he said, the law could mean that a Muslim woman visiting Quebec who wears a niqab could be denied information at a tourism office unless she agreed to uncover her face.
The hearings at Quebec's national assembly are expected to last all week.Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/05/18/niqab-hearings-quebec.html#socialcomments#ixzz0oLarbnz3
