Québec is liberal, but at the same time very much xenophobic in protecting their identity, and very much atheist and agnostic, more than any other province I know (people are Catholic in name only for the most part). They now believe that Mulcair has no intention of protecting the Quebec identity.
I firmly believe Mulcair's comments have completely turned opinion against the NDP, and it not only cost him a chance at being PM, but likely even the opposition party. It was a poorly calculated move, as Canadians by and large do not believe in special religious exceptions (i.e. Sharia law) that circumvents human rights and Canadian laws and customs. Mulcair says yes to the Niqab on individual rights grounds, but to do so on a widely believed oppressive instrument is counter to even NDP people policies and what they have preached.
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