Or Maybe Not.
Who would have thought that the lowly niqab would become such of an election issue that it could very well decide the outcome of October’s election.
Mulcair, who just recently was cleaning up in the Quebec Polls recently came out to defend the use of the Niqab during Citizenship ceremonies – this despite the fact that over 80% of Canadians generally and over 90 percent of Quebecer’s are opposed.
Either Mulcair is the most principled politician to ever come down the pipe or he is the dumbest. You decide but since his courageous stance his polling numbers in the Belle Province have tumbled.
Even Young Trudeau claims to have no difficulty with Muslim Women wearing the veil during the service.
As some of you may know – I have a theory about the Hand of God directing events unexpectedly and it seems to me that this issue has the potential to fall under that category. I often refer to the Battle of Gettsburg where the great Southern General – Robert E. Lee inexplicably threw victory away guaranteeing the eventual loss of the War by the South as an example of His Hand directing events.
But let’s get back to the Niqab itself and our Citizenship ceremony.
Initially and consistent with my Libertarian beliefs, I was inclined to think that this was a very minor issue – so let the dear woman expose her face in private to a female official and then move on to the actual ceremony itself where she could appear with her Niqab intact.
But then I got thinking about this more.
By permitting a Muslim Women wear the veil during the Citizenship Ceremony sends the wrong message not only to the woman herself but to the World at large. Woman here have fought for over 100 years for equality and sadly, still have a little ways to to go. For women coming here from male dominated societies that demand of they women hide their face – among many other discriminatory practices it would be most wrong for Canada to permit a woman to start her life as a Canadian citizen as a subservient being whether she is aware of that or not.
Hopefully taking the oath without the Niqab will at least plant the seed in her mind that we here in Canada do not expect her to import discriminatory practices from her former homeland.
But regardless of whether or not the seed takes root – it at least sends a very strong message to the world – especially to those male dominated countries that we here in Canada do things differently and respect the Human Rights of all of our Citizens both new and old.
I get the feeling that grumpy Mulcair and Young Trudeau are stuck in the original thought that it was no big deal – which does not speak very strongly for either of them becoming our Prime Minister.
As I see it‘
'K.D. Galagher’
