443 results for author: Kashif Ahmed

Quebec passes bill banning niqab, burka while receiving public services

By Graeme Hamilton National Post | October 18, 2017 MONTREAL – Niqab-wearing Quebec women who want to ride the bus, visit the library, go for a medical check-up or meet with their child’s teacher are now legally required to uncover their faces while receiving provincial and municipal government services. Quebec’s National Assembly adopted Bill 62 Wednesday morning, a controversial law that is the Liberal government’s answer to a decade-long debate over the accommodation of religious minorities in the province. The bill passed despite opposition from the Parti Québécois and Coalition Avenir Québec, which argued the legislation does ...

Quebec passes bill banning niqab, burka while receiving public services

By Graeme Hamilton National Post | October 18, 2017 MONTREAL – Niqab-wearing Quebec women who want to ride the bus, visit the library, go for a medical check-up or meet with their child’s teacher are now legally required to uncover their faces while receiving provincial and municipal government services. Quebec’s National Assembly adopted Bill 62 Wednesday morning, a controversial law that is the Liberal government’s answer to a decade-long debate over the accommodation of religious minorities in the province. The bill passed despite opposition from the Parti Québécois and Coalition Avenir Québec, which argued the legislation does ...

Quebec passes bill requiring citizens to uncover faces while receiving public services

By Ingrid Peritz The Globe & Mail | October 18, 2017 Quebec has adopted a law forcing people to show their faces when obtaining services such as taking a city bus, pushing through controversial legislation that is being criticized as discriminatory against Muslim Canadians. Bill 62, which the province's Justice Minister describes as a North American first, requires one's face to be uncovered when giving or receiving public services. The law marks the outcome of a contentious discussion about the place of religious minorities in Quebec. Details of how the law would apply have yet to be worked out, but critics say they are concerned it will ...

Quebec passes bill requiring citizens to uncover faces while receiving public services

By Ingrid Peritz The Globe & Mail | October 18, 2017 Quebec has adopted a law forcing people to show their faces when obtaining services such as taking a city bus, pushing through controversial legislation that is being criticized as discriminatory against Muslim Canadians. Bill 62, which the province's Justice Minister describes as a North American first, requires one's face to be uncovered when giving or receiving public services. The law marks the outcome of a contentious discussion about the place of religious minorities in Quebec. Details of how the law would apply have yet to be worked out, but critics say they are concerned it will ...

Quebec assembly to debate bill banning face coverings in public service

By Sonja Puzic CTV News | October 17, 2017 The Quebec National Assembly will begin debating a controversial bill on Tuesday, that would ban face coverings for public servants and anyone who receives public services. If passed, Bill 62 would prohibit public workers, including doctors and teachers, from wearing niqabs, burkas or any other face coverings. Amendments to the bill introduced last summer also extend the ban to people receiving municipal services, including public transit. That could mean a woman wearing a niqab, for example, would not be able to ride a city bus or enter a library with her face covered. . . . Ihsaan Gardee, ...

Quebec assembly to debate bill banning face coverings in public service

By Sonja Puzic CTV News | October 17, 2017 The Quebec National Assembly will begin debating a controversial bill on Tuesday, that would ban face coverings for public servants and anyone who receives public services. If passed, Bill 62 would prohibit public workers, including doctors and teachers, from wearing niqabs, burkas or any other face coverings. Amendments to the bill introduced last summer also extend the ban to people receiving municipal services, including public transit. That could mean a woman wearing a niqab, for example, would not be able to ride a city bus or enter a library with her face covered. . . . Ihsaan Gardee, ...

Quebec to vote on bill that would bar face-coverings for those receiving public services

By Allan Woods Toronto Star | October 16, 2017 MONTREAL — After a decade-long debate about the place of religion in a secular society, Quebec is set to pass a law that would bar public servants from wearing face coverings and oblige ordinary citizens to unveil when seeking access to government services. The proposed law has been vigorously opposed by Muslim advocacy groups in the province who say that it will unfairly target women who wear Islamic face coverings such as the niqab, which leaves only the eyes uncovered. “A woman with five children who wears the niqab and wants to go to the library won’t be able to take the bus, won’t ...

Quebec to vote on bill that would bar face-coverings for those receiving public services

By Allan Woods Toronto Star | October 16, 2017 MONTREAL — After a decade-long debate about the place of religion in a secular society, Quebec is set to pass a law that would bar public servants from wearing face coverings and oblige ordinary citizens to unveil when seeking access to government services. The proposed law has been vigorously opposed by Muslim advocacy groups in the province who say that it will unfairly target women who wear Islamic face coverings such as the niqab, which leaves only the eyes uncovered. “A woman with five children who wears the niqab and wants to go to the library won’t be able to take the bus, won’t ...

RCMP officers screened border crossers on religion and values

By Michelle Shephard Toronto Star | October 11, 2017 RCMP officers have been screening Muslim refugee claimants entering from the U.S. at Quebec’s Roxham Rd. crossing, asking how they feel about women who do not wear the hijab, how many times they pray, and their opinion about the Taliban and the Islamic State, a questionnaire obtained by the Star shows. The 41 questions appear to specifically target Muslims, as no other religious practices are mentioned, nor terrorist groups with non-Muslim members. Refugee lawyers representing the more than 12,000 men, women and children who have crossed from New York this year at the informal crossing ...

RCMP officers screened border crossers on religion and values

By Michelle Shephard Toronto Star | October 11, 2017 RCMP officers have been screening Muslim refugee claimants entering from the U.S. at Quebec’s Roxham Rd. crossing, asking how they feel about women who do not wear the hijab, how many times they pray, and their opinion about the Taliban and the Islamic State, a questionnaire obtained by the Star shows. The 41 questions appear to specifically target Muslims, as no other religious practices are mentioned, nor terrorist groups with non-Muslim members. Refugee lawyers representing the more than 12,000 men, women and children who have crossed from New York this year at the informal crossing ...