Veil issue unfairly targets Muslims

The StarPhoenix
09/14/07

Kashif Ahmed, CAIR-CAN Board Member


"I endured them then and now I have to endure them again," stated a Quebecker, referring to Muslims as he recently spoke before a public commission set up by Quebec to examine what constitutes unreasonable accommodation of minorities.

His comments apparently raised no eyebrows in the room -- then again, Islamophobia is becoming rampant in La Belle Provence. Media street interviews with ordinary Quebeckers during the recent veiled voting controversy revealed that most thought Muslims were imposing their beliefs on society.

Nothing could be further from both truth and reality.

Elections Canada's legitimate position that Muslim women wearing face veils can vote by providing identification like any other Canadian in upcoming Quebec federal byelections has sparked a gratuitous debate, which has been anything but civil. Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided to lambaste Elections Canada, conveniently ignoring that his government knew as early as May 2006 that Canadian law allows voters with face veils to cast ballots.

It's important to note that special accommodation for voting was never requested by the Canadian Muslim community, because it was never an issue. Yet, negative public emotions have been stoked and j'accuse has been directed at Canadian Muslims.

Muslim women who wear the niqab, or face veils, constitute a fraction of a per cent of Canadian Muslim women -- a minute minority within a minority. In fact, those women who wear the niqab indicate they have no problem identifying themselves at polling stations by unveiling. They willingly do it for driver's licences, passport photographs, at banks and at border crossings, they said. In all, an unfair spotlight has been placed on these women, and the Muslim community at large.

The controversy has also become a rallying point for Muslim-bashers. One such group used shameful fear-mongering -- they claimed that Elections Canada was "bowing to Sharia standards" and that Canada was bending its electoral system to "Sharia demands." Not only does this issue have nothing to do with Sharia (Islamic law), but such sloganeering is simply aimed at creating public misunderstanding.

The unnecessary uproar that we have all witnessed is not Elections Canada's doing. Certainly, the Muslim community appreciates Elections Canada's attempt to treat these women like any other Canadian voter. However, an appropriate strategy needs to be established to reach solutions and avoid future mishaps.

One such strategy is for policy makers to use focus groups in their efforts to develop viable solutions for pressing questions. If the mainstream Muslim community had been thoroughly consulted on this matter, along with other concerned groups, this provocative debate could have been easily averted.

Canadians would have quickly learned that providing identification is required for all Canadian voters, and the Muslim community would not have become a target in the ensuing public debate.

However, what has been quite alarming is the reaction of Harper and his government, along with the opposition parties. It is apparent that our Canadian politicians used this controversy as a cheap political tool to garner some kind of support at the expense of a minority community. And, Muslim-bashers used the opportunity to further a parochial and spiteful agenda.

Back in Quebec, the veiled voting debacle has only amplified public prejudices against the Muslim community. Community leaders are feeling the pressure and are trying their best to reel in misconceptions.

Nonetheless, Quebec's situation is an example for the rest of Canada, and raises some important questions. Are we willing to jump on the bandwagon of bias and intolerance in the heat of debate? Or are we, as a Canadian collective, going to take an informed and balanced approach to divisive national issues?

Our answers to these questions will help determine the future direction of community relations and cohesion.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

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