Quote:
Originally Posted by Zarley
Nenshi is off the mark on this issue. I fail to see how any progressive liberal minded person can support the wearing of the niqab or burka. Wearing of these items is a practice that is rooted in sexism and inequality and it should be discouraged.
Obviously I believe that people are free to dress as they please and I fully support this; If a woman decides to clothe herself in a veil, then so be it. The problem is that the majority of women who wear the veil do so under the influence of an extremely patriarchal culture and many do not have a choice in the matter. As a society, we should not be supporting this and allowing the practice to occur at a citizenship ceremony goes far beyond reasonable accommodation.
Court decisions in Canada have indicated that it is acceptable to require an individual to present their face uncovered under various circumstances in order to establish identity (eg. border checkpoints, police identification, testifying under oath in most cases, etc.). The citizenship ceremony should be considered another one of these situations. If a woman wishes to become a Canadian, she should unveil herself and present herself on an equal footing with other Canadians. As the SCC noted in their 2012 decision on the subject, "wearing the niqab is incompatible with the constitutional values of openness and religious neutrality in contemporary democratic, but diverse, Canada.”
Having said that, this issue is a distraction and not something that would factor greatly into my voting decision.
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Shouldn't it always be a choice though? I am sure the way Mennonite women dress has a historical basis in patriarchy, but we would never think of telling them that they can't dress that way.
The niqab is actually banned from some public places in Saudi Arabia. Think about that. If you ever want to make the right decision about something, just do the opposite of them.
