The federal government says it will table legislation requiring members of the public to show their faces at citizenship ceremonies.
Conservative Ministers Denis Lebel and Tim Uppal made the announcement in the House of Commons foyer on Wednesday, after the Liberal government in Quebec introduced Bill 62, which would ban face-covering veils among civil servants and those using public provincial services.
“We broadly support Quebec’s legislation regarding the uncovering of faces for giving and receiving public services,” said Uppal, who is Sikh and wears a turban.
While the Quebec bill will apply to those providing and receiving all government services, the Conservatives have just committed to banning face coverings at the citizenship ceremonies for the time being.
Uppal said the government will consider other measures that “may be necessary at the national level.”
The federal government’s move comes despite a Federal Court ruling in February which found that in the case of Zunera Ishaq, a Muslim woman asking to be sworn in as a Canadian citizenship while wearing a niqab, the law does not require people to be seen taking an oath.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said after the ruling that his government would appeal the court’s decision.
Uppal rejected any notion Wednesday that the legislation was racist or Islamophobic.
“We’ve been very clear that … regarding citizenship ceremonies, at a time when people are pledging allegiance to this country, when they’re joining the Canadian family, we find that Canadians expect that anyone joining the Canadian family … would have their face uncovered,” said Uppal.
Bill 62, announced in Quebec’s National Assembly on Wednesday, is the Liberal version of the Parti Quebecois’ controversial Charter of Values, which proposed to ban public servants from wearing religious symbol such as hijabs, niqabs and large crosses.
Political scientist Antonia Maioni, of McGill University, said the new law differs from the PQ proposal because “what they’re saying is the kinds of things they’re trying to ban are not religious symbols, but things that cover your face.”
Maioni said the bill is not only a reaction to radicalization, like that recently seen among junior college students in Montreal, but is also designed to fight “restrictions, particularly on young women … from over-zealous control by families fuelled by religion.”
The law would also apply not just to government offices, but also to the broader public sector, including universities, hospitals and daycares, she added.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he had not yet read the details of the Quebec bill, offering more general comments.
“As always, my deepest concern is around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and making sure that all Canadians’ rights are respected. And that’s the only lens I am going to analyze anything bills put forward,” said Trudeau.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair told CTV Power Play he had not yet had a chance to look closely at the Quebec bill, but said he would “defend Charter rights every step of the way.”
“We’ll see whether or not it meets the test of the Charter and if it’s not done at this stage then it will have to be looked at by the courts.”
