Canadians show unprecedented support for Quebec's burka ban

I think this picture captures the burqa argument. Just to the left of this picture you can just about see another woman in a burqa. It just feels humiliating. The man seems to have the air that he sits with two children. If it is so important for a woman's dignity to wear a veil ~ why doesn't the man wear one?


MONTREAL – Most Canadians agree that women wearing the niqab or burka should not receive government services, hospital care or university instruction, results of an Angus Reid poll suggest.

Ninety-five per cent of Quebecers support a proposed provincial law barring the face veil from government offices, schools, and other publicly funded institutions, says the poll, released exclusively to the Montreal Gazette Friday.

In the rest of Canada, three out of four people give the thumbs up to Bill 94, introduced Wednesday by the Charest government. The bill would require all public sector employees to have their faces uncovered, as well as any citizen using government services; for example, someone applying for a medicare card or paying her car registration.

Mario Canseco, vice-president of public affairs for the pollster, said the survey shows an unusually high level of support for a government measure.

"It's very rare to get 80 per cent of Canadians to agree on something," he said.

"With numbers like this, there is not going to be much of a controversy over the legislation in Quebec or anywhere else in the country," he added.

Canseco said one reason support for the niqab ban is higher in Quebec than the rest of Canada is the ongoing debate over reasonable accommodation. The argument over accommodating minorities has heated up in recent weeks in the wake of the barring of an Egyptian woman from government language classes for wearing the niqab.

Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, attributed the poll results to the emotional climate that surrounds the niqab issue.

"They are giving it based on their emotional response to a woman covering her face, which is understandable," Elmenyawi said.

"It is associated with all the negative stereotypes that have been on the airwaves," he said. Elmenyawi said the survey could have produced different results if the niqab debate had been conducted in a calmer atmosphere and with more empathy.

Outside Quebec, the poll showed, Albertans are most likely to support the veil ban, with 82 per cent approving the bill; followed by Ontario, with 77 per cent support; the Atlantic provinces (73 per cent) and British Columbia (70 per cent). Support for withholding government services from those wearing the face veil was lowest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, at 65 per cent.

"It's one of the few times when Quebec and Alberta are on the same page," Canseco said, noting that Quebecers and Albertans differ sharply on many issues, such as the environment.

Only a handful of Quebec Muslims wear the niqab, an opaque face veil with a slit for the eyes, or the burka, a long gown that also covers the face, with a mesh panel through which the wearer peers.

The poll was conducted online among 1,004 adults on Thursday and Friday.

The respondents were selected randomly among Angus Reid Forum panellists.

The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Across Canada, men were slightly more likely to approve the niqab bill than women (83 per cent versus 77 per cent) and people over 55 were more likely to favour it than those under 35 (86 per cent versus 69 per cent).

Bloc Québécois supporters favoured the bill most (95 per cent), along with Conservatives (86 per cent) and Liberals (81 per cent). Three-quarters of NDP supporters agreed with the bill.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

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