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Some criticized Quebec’s so-called “anti-niqab” law Thursday, calling it “Islamophobic and sexist,” while others just shook their heads and wondered what it all meant. Meanwhile, in Gatineau, there were few voices praising the new law.
Bill 62, adopted by the National Assembly Wednesday, will require people to uncover their faces if they are giving or receiving a public service. In other words, once the bill has royal sanction and becomes law, it would deny public services, from bus rides to hospital care, to anyone wearing a niqab unless she agrees to uncover her face.
And it appears to throw the responsibility for enforcement onto front-line public servants: librarians, bus drivers, nurses.
Ahmed Limame, imam of the Centre Islamique de l’Outaouais in Gatineau, said Gatineau’s Muslims are all talking about the news.
“We find it a very discriminatory law, and some even find it a bit racist,” he said.
“And it’s also illogical because there is no need for such a law. In Quebec, there are seven or eight million (people). Women who cover their faces — there are dozens.” He said he knows of only one such woman in Gatineau.
“The neutrality of the state is that you take the same treatment of all cultures and all religions. And here we see that this is not neutral. This is forcing women to show part of their body to receive a service. We are really disappointed about it … People are shocked,” he said.
Limame also sees the oddball side of the new law, which applies to buses but doesn’t appear to make provisions for the hundreds of bus trips that cross the Quebec-Ontario border each day.
“She (a passenger) can uncover her face when she’s in Gatineau and cover it back up when she’s in Ottawa. In the same bus,” he said.
“In rush hour, does the (bus) driver have to stop and say, ‘Uncover your face,’ and this and that? It’s creating more problems than solutions … It’s crazy.”
The national office of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents both Gatineau and Ottawa bus drivers, spoke out strongly against the whole bill Thursday, calling it “a terrible law.”
“Islamophobia is a horrible thing that I think people need to put aside,” said president Paul Thorp, “and I think it’s a breach of their human rights if they have to remove any garment. And to deny them a public service that they are paying taxes for is shameful.”
It also puts the drivers into a new and unwanted role if they have to decide who can ride and who can’t based on their religious clothing, he said.
“Bus drivers are not there to enforce laws. That’s what we pay taxes for law enforcement agencies, and bus drivers are there to transport passengers to and from where they need to go, safely and reliably.”
People boarding STO in Gatineau Thursday Oct.19, 2017.
The Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) isn’t doing anything about the new law yet.
“There will be no change to our policies regarding the admission of riders on our buses as long as we don’t know the details and modalities of application of this bill. Consequently, there is no new directive to drivers, it’s the status quo,” an STO spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, discussions are needed between ATUQ (the association that represents transit agencies in Quebec), the UMQ (Union of Quebec Municipalities) and the Quebec government. The particular situation of the STO being a cross-provincial bus service that serves Ottawa is something to be considered in those discussions to come.”
Cross-border service is a potential source of confusion to OC Transpo and the STO alike, as both run service across the river. Ottawa transit commission chair Stephen Blais couldn’t be reached Thursday.
The Université du Québec en Outaouais was taken by surprise by the new bill, and hasn’t made any plans to deal with it because it doesn’t know the details yet.
“We just read about it in the paper this morning,” said Gilles Mailloux, the spokesman for the university. “The rector is away today. This is certainly going to have to go to the board of governors.”
He said there are a number of students and staff who wear hijabs but he couldn’t immediately think of any who wear the niqab.
The Citizen asked the organization that operates hospitals in Gatineau, Shawville and Maniwaki what it would do if a woman wearing a niqab arrives in hospital needing emergency help.
The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais didn’t have an answer: “Since the bill was passed (Wednesday) and it is not yet in effect, it is too soon to answer that question,” a spokeswoman replied. She suggested phoning the justice ministry in Quebec City.
The Collectif Canadien Anti-Islamophobie (CCAI) calls the bill “an Islamophobic and sexist law because it targets exclusively Muslim women who wear the niqab out of religious conviction,” the group said.
It said the Liberal government “is contributing to the exclusion and stigmatization of the Muslim minority.”
The Citizen tried to contact all five mayoral candidates in Gatineau for their views on the new legislation, since it affects city services and staff. None had responded.
tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
Bill 62, adopted by the National Assembly Wednesday, will require people to uncover their faces if they are giving or receiving a public service. In other words, once the bill has royal sanction and becomes law, it would deny public services, from bus rides to hospital care, to anyone wearing a niqab unless she agrees to uncover her face.
And it appears to throw the responsibility for enforcement onto front-line public servants: librarians, bus drivers, nurses.
Ahmed Limame, imam of the Centre Islamique de l’Outaouais in Gatineau, said Gatineau’s Muslims are all talking about the news.
“We find it a very discriminatory law, and some even find it a bit racist,” he said.
“And it’s also illogical because there is no need for such a law. In Quebec, there are seven or eight million (people). Women who cover their faces — there are dozens.” He said he knows of only one such woman in Gatineau.
“The neutrality of the state is that you take the same treatment of all cultures and all religions. And here we see that this is not neutral. This is forcing women to show part of their body to receive a service. We are really disappointed about it … People are shocked,” he said.
Limame also sees the oddball side of the new law, which applies to buses but doesn’t appear to make provisions for the hundreds of bus trips that cross the Quebec-Ontario border each day.
“She (a passenger) can uncover her face when she’s in Gatineau and cover it back up when she’s in Ottawa. In the same bus,” he said.
“In rush hour, does the (bus) driver have to stop and say, ‘Uncover your face,’ and this and that? It’s creating more problems than solutions … It’s crazy.”
The national office of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents both Gatineau and Ottawa bus drivers, spoke out strongly against the whole bill Thursday, calling it “a terrible law.”
“Islamophobia is a horrible thing that I think people need to put aside,” said president Paul Thorp, “and I think it’s a breach of their human rights if they have to remove any garment. And to deny them a public service that they are paying taxes for is shameful.”
It also puts the drivers into a new and unwanted role if they have to decide who can ride and who can’t based on their religious clothing, he said.
“Bus drivers are not there to enforce laws. That’s what we pay taxes for law enforcement agencies, and bus drivers are there to transport passengers to and from where they need to go, safely and reliably.”
People boarding STO in Gatineau Thursday Oct.19, 2017.
The Société de transport de l’Outaouais (STO) isn’t doing anything about the new law yet.
“There will be no change to our policies regarding the admission of riders on our buses as long as we don’t know the details and modalities of application of this bill. Consequently, there is no new directive to drivers, it’s the status quo,” an STO spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Meanwhile, discussions are needed between ATUQ (the association that represents transit agencies in Quebec), the UMQ (Union of Quebec Municipalities) and the Quebec government. The particular situation of the STO being a cross-provincial bus service that serves Ottawa is something to be considered in those discussions to come.”
Cross-border service is a potential source of confusion to OC Transpo and the STO alike, as both run service across the river. Ottawa transit commission chair Stephen Blais couldn’t be reached Thursday.
The Université du Québec en Outaouais was taken by surprise by the new bill, and hasn’t made any plans to deal with it because it doesn’t know the details yet.
“We just read about it in the paper this morning,” said Gilles Mailloux, the spokesman for the university. “The rector is away today. This is certainly going to have to go to the board of governors.”
He said there are a number of students and staff who wear hijabs but he couldn’t immediately think of any who wear the niqab.
The Citizen asked the organization that operates hospitals in Gatineau, Shawville and Maniwaki what it would do if a woman wearing a niqab arrives in hospital needing emergency help.
The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l’Outaouais didn’t have an answer: “Since the bill was passed (Wednesday) and it is not yet in effect, it is too soon to answer that question,” a spokeswoman replied. She suggested phoning the justice ministry in Quebec City.
The Collectif Canadien Anti-Islamophobie (CCAI) calls the bill “an Islamophobic and sexist law because it targets exclusively Muslim women who wear the niqab out of religious conviction,” the group said.
It said the Liberal government “is contributing to the exclusion and stigmatization of the Muslim minority.”
The Citizen tried to contact all five mayoral candidates in Gatineau for their views on the new legislation, since it affects city services and staff. None had responded.
tspears@postmedia.com
twitter.com/TomSpears1
查看原文...
