Vol. 74/No. 16      April 26, 2010

Bill 94 is the latest step in the anti-immigrant campaign of the Liberal Party government of Quebec. It bans wearing a niqab, a head covering which shows only the eyes, or a burqa, a full body garment that also covers the head entirely, while doing business with the government.

Quebec law already requires women to uncover their faces when applying for medicare cards or when voting.

Naïma Atef Amed, who wears a niqab, has been expelled from French classes for immigrants in Montreal twice. The second time the government intervened to have her expelled because she refused to remove it.

On March 12 another student, Aisha, was expelled from a French class near Montreal for refusing to remove her niqab.

Many new immigrants in Montreal come from North Africa and practice Islam. They are targets of systematic discrimination and their unemployment rate is close to 30 percent. The government’s anti-Muslim campaign is used to intimidate and divide them from other workers here.

Some Muslim organizations have spoken out against the proposed ban. Salam Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, said, “It could open the flood gates to discrimination.” Alia Hogben, executive director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, said, “I’m a little taken aback they’ve gone so far.” Asma Qureshi, a Concordia University student interviewed at the Muslim Student Association, asked, “As long as you’re not imposing it on others, isn’t it their choice?”

Premier Jean Charest claims Bill 94 is a measure for women’s rights and separation of church and state. “An accommodation cannot be granted unless it respects the principle of equality between men and women, and the religious neutrality of the state,” he said.

The bill has the support of both the governing federal Conservative Party and the federal Liberal Party. The bourgeois nationalist Parti Québécois says the bill should also outlaw the wearing of the hijab by government workers. The hijab is a head scarf that does not cover the face. Amir Khadir, the only member of the social democratic Québec Solidaire in the Quebec National Assembly, supports the bill.

The Quebec Federation of Women (FFQ) also backs the bill. “The bill prohibits wearing the complete veil in public and semi-public institutions, which the FFQ agrees with,” stated the group’s March 24 press release. “The complete veil is an instrument of oppression and confinement of women in addition to preventing communication with those who wear it.”

Michel Prairie, Communist League candidate for mayor of Montreal in last year’s election, opposes the bill. “This is a deepening of the effort by the capitalist rulers to divide workers, targeting immigrants who are Muslim,” he said. “Talk of defending women’s rights and separation of church and state are just cover for this campaign. People have the right to dress as they wish. It’s in the interests of the working class to back this fight.”
 
 
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