Feds to ban veils at ballot

Critics pan legislation that will require all federal voters to show their faces
OTTAWA -- The Harper government yesterday introduced legislation requiring all voters -- including veiled Muslim women -- to show their faces before being allowed to cast ballots in federal elections.

Peter Van Loan, the minister responsible for democratic reform, said he hopes the bill will settle the potentially corrosive debate over the accommodation of diverse religious beliefs.

But Opposition parties and some Muslim groups suggested it will do just the opposite -- giving a national forum to a heated debate that has provoked some anti-immigrant sentiment in Quebec.

Liberal deputy leader Michael Ignatieff said while he supports requiring all voters to identify themselves, "what I don't like about this whole project is the idea that we take a bunch of women wearing veils and we make a whole big deal about this ... Let's not have politicians fishing around and creating divisions between Canadians about this."

Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Congress said the law is unnecessary and will feed discrimination against Muslim Canadians.

He suggested the Tories are hoping to make "political mileage among Islamophobes."

Sameer Zuberi, of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Canada, said the federal Tories are trying to "win over Quebec" by jumping on an issue that is already raging in the province.

He questioned the urgency of the matter given that "there are hardly any" women in Canada who choose to wear niqabs or burkas to cover their faces.

The issue of veiled voters first came up during the Quebec provincial election last spring, adding fuel to an already heated debate over how far the province should go in accommodating newcomers.

Action Democratique Leader Mario Dumont's popularity surged after he suggested Quebec has gone too far in catering to immigrants.

Last month, the issue popped up on the national radar during three federal byelections in Quebec.

Marc Mayrand, the country's chief electoral officer, opened a political storm when he said the law did not require byelection voters to uncover their faces.
By JOAN BRYDEN, CP UPDATED: 2007-10-27 03:06:12 MST
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Do you think that voters should have to show their face, no matter what their religious beliefs are?

Do you think this law is about voting security or about political posturing?
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