An Egyptian-born Montreal woman has been expelled from Quebec’s post-secondary college system for refusing to take off her niqab, a move that has spawned the obligatory Canadian Human Rights Commission challenge.
Last fall, the woman had been attending the CEGEP St. Laurent in Montreal, taking a government-funded French course that seeks to help immigrants adjust to life in Quebec.
I’m reminded of something a Muslim fellow said on the National Post podcast about proposals to “ban the burka”.
He argued that the burka should not be banned, but that no one should be required to accommodate it either. He pointed out that whatever the wearer’s other purposes, the burka sends a message that the wearer rejects the values of the society around her. By extension this is a rejection of the people around her.
As such, neither society at large nor other members of it should be required to accommodate this rejection.
Burka’s should not be banned, but people, businesses and government agencies should be able to reject those who similarly reject them.
Andrew,
That sounds like a good suggestion. Let people dress in Big Bird costumes, for all I care, but when they come to school, the institution should have certain controls over reasonable accommodation.
Burka’s should not be banned, but people, businesses and government agencies should be able to reject those who similarly reject them.
And really, shouldn’t this be our default attitude to free speech instead of the ridiculous Human Rights Tribunals?
Issachar: Burka’s should not be banned, but people, businesses and government agencies should be able to reject those who similarly reject them.
Exactly: banning them will just give them more press than they deserve.
That said, that school was within its’ rights.
There is nothing in Quran that suggest women should be covering their faces, according to Muslim Canadian Congress. In fact, they condemn the burkas, saying they do nothing more than serve a politically extreme agenda.
No, this not one of those times the Canadian Human Rights Commission should even entertain this case.
Refreshing commentary CK.
Frankly it sounds like she had a Sharia Agenda, forcing her class mates to look away or she’d stand with her back to them might be acceptable in Saudi Arabia but it’s despicable that anyone would pander to this woman. She is not the kind of new immigrant I want entering Canada, she should be denied residency status based on her failure to integrate and accept Canadian culture via gender equality.
She is not the kind of new immigrant I want entering Canada, she should be denied residency status based on her failure to integrate and accept Canadian culture via gender equality.
Hang on Rose: if we’re to deport her for simply for insisting on covering up her face and all of her classroom antics, then what are we to do with the Christian fundamentalists who we allow to practise poligamy and don’t even prosecute for having sex with minors, generally by force in the name of so-called celestial marriage? In the rest of the Canadian society, these dirty old men would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law as they should be. I believe there was such a case recently in B.C., if I’m not mistaken. I believe that these men were acquitted of all charges.
BEfore we spend money, time and energy banning burkas, why don’t we try to find a way to protect the women and girls in these extreme Christian sects from rape and forceable marriages?
Then there was that hullabaloo about the Hutterites in Alberta who refused to have their pictures on drivers’ licenses.
What is the difference between them and the burka clad extreme Muslim women? Why should they be treated differently?
Then, there is the Chassidic Jewish community who live in their bubble. They demand us to bend over backwards for them too when they leave the bubble to join the ranks of the real world.
I can write a novel about them as well. But I will give some highlights.
I used to dispatch taxis for a living. The taxi company I worked for had stands right in their communities so, we had a lot of them as customers. These people were fast with the complaints against our taxi drivers. Especially if we sent a black or someone with olive tint (about 90% of Montreal cab drivers) and they knew the laws in Montreal governing taxis.
Furthermore, Chassidic women and girls are not treated with any form of equality, in fact, they too are quite oppressed.
My point is what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.
CK,
You make an excellent point about the polygamists. It’s a disgrace that no one has done anything about the abuse go
ing on there. I don’t understand your comment about sauce for the goose being sauce for the gander though. In my experience, most of the people who don’t like burkas dislike polygamy even more.
I think the problem there is actually a more extreme form of the problem with our response to burkas. For some reason, we’re simply not taking the reasonable step of saying that our culture only tolerates certain behaviour. Polygamy will not be tolerated as we see it as inherently unjust. This is an entirely reasonable step and completely in keeping with the charter which only grants rights up to reasonable limits as can be justified in a democratic society.
Obviously these can and should be dealt with on a case by case basis. Polygamy is certainly not “the same” as a burka.