In Quebec ‘we want to see your face’

James hints that burqa/niqab rules may be coming. Human Rights Commission also sending new message

By Dan Delmar

Immigration minister and Nelligan MNA Yolande James was unequivocal last week: new Quebecers need to adapt to this society and wearing the burqa or niqab inside government institutions is unacceptable.

James’ comments came days after an Egyptian immigrant, Naema Ahmed, was expelled from government-sponsored French lessons at CEGEP St. Laurent for refusing to remove her niqab in class. She has filed a complaint with the Commission des droits de la personne, citing the religious freedom defence.

In an interview with The Suburban, James suggested that she and other members of the Charest government would soon be looking at new rules that could prohibit the wearing of the niqab or burqa in certain situations. She would not go into specifics.

The government will look at “new steps to make things even more clear,” she said, referring to rules about face coverings in classrooms.

Ironically, Ahmed’s native Egypt banned the wearing of niqabs in universities last year.

In these classes, “we want to be able to see your face,” added James. “But we have to keep things in perspective. We’re not inundated by people who have niqabs or burqas. This is the first situation where a person was asked to remove the niqab (in a classroom) and refused to do so.”

James said she has been watching the ongoing debate in France on the head-to-toe coverings worn by a small minority of fundamentalist Muslim women. A Parliamentary committee there recommended the coverings be banned in public institutions. She said it was important to put personal feelings aside when looking at the issue of burqas and niqabs, and instead focus on the impact they have on Quebec society. The Suburban asked her what her personal feelings were on the matter:

“If you’re asking me if the niqab can correspond to Quebec values, I would tell you, ‘no.’”

Her stance is in stark contrast to the views of some federal politicians. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Lachine MP Marlene Jennings and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff rejected the idea of  a ban, citing a Canadian’s right to religious expression. Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the government had no intentions of studying the issue for the moment.

Representatives of the moderate Muslim-Canadian Congress strongly disagree with the MPs; the group’s position is that there are no references to face coverings in the Quar’an and therefore its use is not shielded by the Charter. The French government report that started the debate warned that the burqa and the niqab’s growing popularity in that country posed a “challenge” to their society; president Nicholas Sarkozy referred to it as a tool of “subservience and debasement.”

It seems as if even the Quebec Human Rights Commission is paying attention to the new message. Yesterday, the Commission des droits de la personne said the La Régie de l'assurance-maladie du Québec (RAMQ) would not be obliged to accommodate citizens who wear burqas or niqabs. The Commission said asking a Muslim woman to briefly take off a face covering for identification purposes did not represent a significant infringement on her freedom of religion.