In yet another blunt attempt to explain why Canada’s conservative government is fighting against the use of veils during citizenship ceremonies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the Muslim practice of covering one’s face with a niqab stems from a culture that is primarily anti-women.
At the time of his comment, Harper was responding to Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, who has in the past criticized the Tories for trying to ban full-face veils for Muslims during citizenship ceremonies and accused the Prime Minister of being Islamophobic.
Trudeau responded to Harper, saying his government is doubling down on the politics of fear.
As another debate over reasonable accommodation in Canada took shape earlier this month, this time over the niqab, Harper argued that is not the way things are done in his country, despite Trudeau promoting religious freedom that is already protected by the Charter of Rights.
While some women wear niqabs in public, with Liberals often defending their right to do so during citizenship ceremonies, Harper, whose administration is appealing a Federal Court ruling that would permit people to cover their faces while reciting the oath of citizenship, strongly differs.
“We do not allow people to cover their faces during citizenship ceremonies. Why would Canadians, contrary to our own values, embrace a practice at that time that is not transparent, that is not open and frankly is rooted in a culture that is anti-women,” Harper said. “That is unacceptable to Canadians, unacceptable to Canadian women.”
Alia Hogben, executive director of Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), urged Harper to think more about the issue before addressing it again. While explaining how women are not mandated under Islam to wear veils, she said it is not the state’s right to determine what women should wear and should not.
“I don’t think it’s the state’s place to tell a woman what to wear or what not to wear,” she said.
The CCMW carried out a study of 80 women in Ontario who wear the niqab on a daily basis and found that none of them had any issue with revealing their faces when required for identification or security reasons.
“It’s not that you have to like the niqab, or you’re promoting or condoning, but it is up to the women whether she wants to wear it or not,” Hogben said.
Defending his stance in the Commons, Harper accused Trudeau of negating public opinion but he failed to refer to necessary statistics at the same time.
“The Leader of the Liberal Party continues to bring up his position on the niqab, not seeming to understand why almost all Canadians oppose the wearing of face coverings during citizenship ceremonies,” Harper said.
Trudeau responded to that by saying Harper’s comments point to the fact that he is using his Islamophobia in the political sphere as well.
“This government is willing to confuse and conflate the issues in ways that encourages ignorance about these various elements and quite frankly stokes fears and anxieties at a time where people are worried about terrorism and extremism,” he said. “This is the crassest kind of politics.”
Photo Credits: Huffington Post
