NDP message on niqab ban remains muddled as Tom Mulcair looks to shore up support in Quebec
Careful not to disrupt its bedrock support in Quebec, the NDP appears to be struggling to find a clear, consistent message on the question of whether or not women should be allowed to cover their faces while swearing the oath of citizenship.
While the Conservatives and Liberals have staked out firm positions on wearing niqabs during the ceremonies the Tories are opposed, the Liberals support it the NDP, some observers say, has waffled on the issue.
(The NDP) are wrestling with this issue. Its a political problem for them, said Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo.
Last week, Quebec NDP candidate Jean-Francois Delisle said he personally opposed women being allowed to wear niqabs during citizenship ceremonies and went further to suggest reopening the Constitution to revisit freedom of religion. He later said in a statement that his remarks were ill-considered and contradictory and did not reflect the priorities of the party.
Asked Monday by a reporter for his personal views on the issue, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair seemed to sidestep the question, saying the courts had spoken on the matter.
The courts take care of that. Your freedom of expression, your freedom of the press, would you want politicians deciding that? Its what the courts are there to do, he said. Theyre there to defend your rights, including freedom of religion. So the courts have spoken in this case.
Mulcair has tended to state different positions on issues depending on what part of the country he is in, said Cameron Ahmad, press secretary for the Liberal Party.
Our position is that when youre running to be prime minister, a national campaign, your position has to be consistent across the country, he said. Weve held a consistent position from day one (on the niqab issue).
The NDP insists that Mulcair has been consistent in his position.
The topic is a delicate one for the party. The base of the NDPs power rests largely in Quebec, where popular sentiment leans heavily in favour of the niqab ban.
A Forum Research public opinion poll earlier this year found that opposition to face-coverings was highest in Quebec 87 per cent say they wanted it out of citizenship ceremonies. Nationally, 67 per cent of respondents are opposed.
A lot of the disdain for the cultural practice stems from a soft nationalism among some NDP supporters in Quebec, Macfarlane said.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has been far more blunt in his stance, perhaps at the expense of some votes in Quebec, Macfarlane said. But it would still be nice for the NDP to be clearer on this issue, especially in the wake of a xenophobic ad put out recently by the Bloc Québécois, he said.
The controversial ad suggested that a vote for the NDP was a vote in favour of pipelines and niqabs and depicted a glob of oil morphing into the image of a niqab.
The issue erupted on a national scale earlier this year following a Federal Court ruling that found the niqab ban was unlawful because it violated federal regulations requiring citizenship judges to allow would-be citizens the greatest possible freedom in the religious solemnization or the solemn affirmation of the oath. Last week, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld that decision.
The Conservatives, repeating their position that it is offensive that newcomers would hide their faces at the moment they are joining the Canadian family, said they intended to seek a stay of that decision so they could take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
They have also said they would re-introduce legislation, if re-elected, entrenching the niqab policy into law.
Macfarlane said hes doubtful such a law would pass constitutional muster, as the Conservatives are pushing the issue purely for symbolic reasons.
It is legitimate for people to express personal views about the cultural practice of wearing veils a lot of people believe it is an oppressive device but that doesnt mean the government can step in and interfere with minorities rights without justification, Macfarlane said.
Itd be nice for NDP to be more emphatic about that principle, he said.
Questions about whether the NDP was unified on the niqab issue came up earlier this year after Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice remarked that he was totally uncomfortable if a woman wore a niqab while working as a federal bureaucrat.
It is not a practice that we like, the niqab, nor one we agree with, he said at the time.
Mulcair told the Vancouver Sun at the time that Boulerice said in the same interview religious freedom must be respected. The NDP leader added that the partys respect for the Charter is unanimous.
