Muslims seeking female clerk can ‘line up again’
Quebec decision
Graeme Hamilton, National Post
Tuesday, March 16, 2010MONTREAL — In recent years, the few fully veiled Muslim women who had dealings with Quebec’s health-insurance board could choose to be served by a woman to avoid exposing their faces to a man outside their family.
But in the latest example of the province’s growing resistance to the accommodation of minority religious practices, the insurance board on Tuesday announced the end of the policy after the provincial human rights commission said it has no duty to acquiesce.
“From now on, for a woman who is veiled with a niqab or a burka and comes to our office asking to be photographed by a woman, the answer is no,” said Marc Lortie, spokesman for the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec. “Line up again, or come back another day.”
The news follows last week’s expulsion from a French-as-a-second-language course of an Egyptian woman who insisted on wearing a niqab during class. It was the second school Naema Ahmed was expelled from for wearing the full face covering, which leaves only a slit for the eyes. Authorities at the first school had said her teacher was unable to properly assess her pronunciation without seeing her mouth.
Quebec’s Immigration Department said she could not continue her studies while wearing the niqab.
“If you want to integrate into Quebec society, here are our values,” Immigration Minister Yolande James told reporters last week. “We want to see your face.” Ms. Ahmed has filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
After the health-insurance board sought its expertise on the niqab issue, the rights commission published its opinion on Monday that requiring a veiled woman to briefly expose her face to a male employee is not a significant breach of her rights.
In 2008-09, 10 people out of the 118,000 using the health-insurance board’s Montreal service centre had, for religious reasons, requested to be served by a woman. No such requests were made in its other centre in Quebec City. The centres process applications for new health cards, which require a photograph.
The commission reasoned that a woman would only have to remove her veil briefly for purposes of identification. It drew a distinction with people who for religious reasons ask that a driving test be given by a member of the same sex. In an earlier opinion, the commission said the province should accommodate such requests because the person is in a confined space with a member of the opposite sex for nearly an hour.
The new Quebec policy is at odds with practices for health-card applications in Ontario, where women are served by female employees if their religious beliefs require. The Ontario government has also established procedures to allow identity photos to be taken in private, if requested.
“Generally speaking, staff at Ontario service centres are very aware of cultural requirements and diversity and we do our best to accommodate individual situations,” said Alan Cairns, a spokesman for the Ministry of Government Services.
The furor over the still rarely seen niqab is a clear sign that Quebec’s debate over the “reasonable accommodation” of religious and ethnic minorities has returned with full force.
Three years ago, Quebec media were filled with reports of perceived threats to mainstream Quebec values — for example, a sugar shack that prepared a pork-free menu for Muslims and a gym that frosted its windows so young Hasidic men in a school next door would not be distracted by exercising women. In 2007, Premier Jean Charest appointed two respected thinkers — Charles Taylor and Gérard Bouchard — to study the question.
The Bouchard-Taylor commission’s hearings and 2008 final report calmed things down for a time, but Mr. Charest’s government failed to act on most of the commission’s key recommendations.
An example of the government’s skittishness on the question came last week when Family Minister Tony Tomassi said he had no objection to allowing religious instruction in government-subsidized daycares operated by Islamic and Jewish groups. The next day, faced with loud opposition, he reversed his position and said religious teaching would not be tolerated.
A group calling itself “Intellectuals for secularism” published a declaration on Tuesday arguing for a completely secular government. No government employee should be allowed to wear any religious symbol, and the crucifix that hangs in the National Assembly should be removed, the group, which includes former premier Bernard Landry, argued.
Jean-François Lisée, executive director of the Université de Montréal’s international studies centre and a signatory of the declaration, said public opinion in Quebec is shifting towards secularism. The “neutrality of the state” that government employees represent is compromised when they wear a religious symbol, he said, whether it is a crucifix, a Jewish skullcap or a Muslim headscarf. Quebec, he said, is wrestling with how to respond to “a stronger assertiveness of orthodox religions, be they Jewish, Muslim or Catholic. The answer seems to be more secular now than would have been the case two or three years ago.”
I am glad to see that more and more people are starting to catch on and see that catering to the intolerant religion/ideology of Islam is a big mistake. Will Hillary now scold Quebec for Muslim “discrimination”, as she recently did our European allies? Maybe one day our government will catch on also, but as long as Obama is in office, there is no chance at that.
Someone ought to point out that neither Catholics nor Jews blow up people, buildings, & airplanes on a regular basis, & neither group advocates for death to all who are not respectively Catholic or Jewish.
This is good news! Once again Francophiles step up to the plate and take charge.
the governments and employees should just inform them this is canada or america and this is our system, you are free to go back to your system in arabia or the mahgreb or wherever but if you are in america or canada, follow the customs ,………..i stll don't know why we let people like this in ??
when you enter you should be required to sign something besides a welfare check/ that states you will never be a pain in the ass
whether u stay in arabia or america, people who accept islam will go to heaven forever after day of judgement. but sick people like u will go to hell and stay there forever, no matter how luxurious you live ur life here in this world. thanks.
The Islamic scriptures call for Muslims to fight and kill Jews to reach judgment day. Do you want to kill Jews?
Cravo pour les Quebecois – I hope Hijab Hitlery Clinton does not scold ( "gronder") Les Quebecois as she scolds Isarelis for acually building condos in their capital.
I suspect the Quebecois are more likely to tell Hitlery where to stick it if she did.
My government is running neck and neck with the Labour Party, in the Islamic ass kissing department.
It's good to see more and more people refusing to put up with muz-tard whining. Seem they're always complaining about something ….or offended by this or that. It's time people start telling them to shut up and deal with it or go back home.
Good on Quebec for this!
You just don't see Christians or Catholics in MUSLIM country's telling THEM how to practice religion do you?
Just the dead ones who tried…….
Good for Canada!
Tres bien Quebec! La seule chose a laquelle il faut etre intolerant est l'intolerance elle meme!
To all the newbies, welcome to the site, and thanks for the comments.
There are many reasons to oppose the spread of islam such as the fact that islam is indeed against liberty,it calls on muslims to hate non-muslims and to kill them.I have been studying islam under the microscope for a long time and this is the conclusion i have reached: islam is an information virus which attacks the mind much like a biological virus which attacks the body.We know that when a virus attacks a computer,it can’t function properly thereafter;the same happens when islam attaches itself to the human brain, it can’t think properly then.Muslims are unaware that they are in the grip of evil and this why itis urgent for all freedom loving people to stop islam as soon as possible.Thus it is a grave mistake to accomadate islamic nonsense.
Kudos to Quebec.
I live in the stinkhole known as Ontario. Ran into the ground by McGuinea. Ontario is happy to oblige "canadians of convenience" and imports them (particularly muslims) at a breakneck speed. I am tempted to move out of Ontario and into Quebec or the U.S. Ontario is now a have not province, particularly if you are a white and english speaking. We are fast becoming the minority and are basically discriminated against. GD disgrace. I hate this province and this Premier. Everyone in Canada should treat this ilk the same as Quebec treat them. You came to our country. You respect our laws and our customs and traditions, based on the province that let you in. Get with it Canada. Learn a lesson from Quebec. Get the message out there. Protest, write your MP's and your left wing media establishments.
What is happening by you, sounds like what is happening across the West. We are more concerned with foreigners than our own people.
Ironic…… coming from the same province that comnplains that the federal government is not accommodating it! Now complaining that they are accommodating minorities too much. Now just who do these Quebecois think they are?
They are people that are smart enough to realize that catering to Muslims will only lead to more demands. Unlike most of the West, the get it.
I am hoping at some point to emigrate to Canada. It sounds as if I should consider Quebec since they clearly do not tolerate nonsense like burqquas and niquabs. I don’t care much if they want to wear long dresses and headscarves, but the burqua and niquab are, IMO, security issues. If you don’t want to compromise that far, then go back to wherever you came from. It is your job to adjust to your host culture and not the other way round.
Welcome to the site Ioan!
We need rules to live together, and the rules can not depends on the religions. Thats the right call.
Sounds like everyone here needs to understand what freedom and liberty is.
We are all practicing one form of religion wether we like it or not and if yours allows you to expose your private parts to the public why should you prevent others from covering themselves? In anycase, misery loves company!
For the ignorant ones who badmouth Islam, too bad, vulgarism isn’t sense!
Freedom and liberty is NOT Islam. Only Muslims are on a worldwide campaign attempting to subjugate all under a barbaric set of religious laws, and when it comes to Islam, I am not ignorant. So you must not be talking to me.