Quebec’s face-covering ban rejected by Manitoba parties
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/10/2017 (2351 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Politicians from Manitoba’s three main parties have condemned a law passed by Quebec banning anyone from providing or receiving public services with their face covered.
Quebec’s Bill 62 bans face coverings for people giving or receiving a service from the state, and it includes a framework for how authorities should grant accommodation requests based on religious beliefs.
The province passed the law Wednesday. It effectively bans the minority of Muslim women who wear a niqab from boarding a public bus.
In a written statement, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson wouldn’t weigh in on Quebec’s move, but said it wasn’t how the Progressive Conservatives approach multiculturalism in Manitoba.
“Manitoba is the home of hope. For generations, we have welcomed people of all backgrounds with support and understanding,” she wrote. “Manitobans are inclusive of other cultures and we’ve built a society that draws strength from its diversity. Our province will not single out a group this way by challenging their cultural practices or beliefs.”
NDP Leader Wab Kinew took his criticism further Thursday.
“It’s disheartening in 2017 that a government in Canada is still trying to tell women what to wear. A law that targets Muslim women is Islamophobic and divisive,” Kinew wrote. “These aren’t Manitoban values. We need more education and more opportunities for people of different faiths and cultures to grow together as a community.”
Liberal MLA Jon Gerrard (who is running in Saturday’s party leadership race) said he couldn’t imagine a similar bill making headway in Manitoba.
“We’re talking about a very small proportion of women in these circumstances and I don’t see a particular problem,” he said. “In my view, we should be leaving these sorts of decisions to the woman who is involved.”
The Free Press reached out to Manitoba’s three sitting provincial parties after Ontario legislators condemned the Quebec law Thursday.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said it was a matter of religious freedom. “Forcing people to show their faces when they ride the bus (or) banning women from wearing a niqab when they pick up a book from the library will only divide us,” she said.
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard has defended the law by saying it is necessary for reasons related to communication, identification and security.
That logic was panned in the Ontario legislature, with the NDP contingent saying it was an attack on women’s rights.
The Progressive Conservatives even urged the ruling Liberals to participate as interveners in any charter challenge to the legislation, saying it threatened free speech across Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn’t made a clear stance on the Quebec law, saying it’s not Ottawa’s role to challenge provincial laws, but noting charter rights.
— with files from The Canadian Press
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca