Muslim Women: Immigration Minister Jason Kenney

Equality Between Men And Women Dept: Even in the Muslim community, the niqab and burqa are controversial. Only a tiny fraction of Muslim women go about veiled. The few who do deliberately hold themselves aloof from the wider community and display beliefs that run counter to ideals about equality between men and women. These are jarring signals to be sending at the very moment when one is joining the Canadian family, according to The Star. All that said, should Canada be coercing women to fit into the mainstream, whatever that may be in our pluralistic society, by withholding citizenship, along with the right to vote, run for public office and hold some jobs? Is the citizenship ceremony the place to demand that newcomers give up deeply held religious or cultural practices that are perfectly legal and don t hurt anyone else? Is it the place to be telling newcomers to behave and look just like us , or pay the price and is the Canadian citizenship ceremony a place where Muslim women should show up with their faces covered to take the oath? Prime Minister Stephen Harper s Conservative government thinks not. And it s a fair bet that a lot of Canadians would agree. As Immigration Minister Jason Kenney sees it, the veil reflects a certain view about women that we don t accept in Canada. We want women to be full and equal members of Canadian society and certainly when they re taking the citizenship oath, that s the right place to start. Again, most people would probably agree. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.