StraightGoods.ca: Nixing niqab not a priority for Albertans

[tuvor]

I've only ever seen a handful of women in Calgary wearing a niqab so only their eyes are visible. The vast majority of Muslim women here simply wear a hijab to cover their hair or don't cover their heads at all.

And yet a recent Angus Reid poll found that 82 percent of Albertans support legislation recently introduced in Quebec that would require women to drop the veil if they want to work in the public sector or use public services. That's the highest level of support for the legislation outside Quebec. In BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, support fell between

So are we likely to see similar legislation here? It doesn't appear so because it's simply not a huge issue. Nobody is pressing for laws to require women to remove the niqab. And so far no woman has asked for special considerations because she has to have her face covered.

It's not that there aren't many Muslims here. The first mosque in North America was opened in Edmonton in 1938 after Muslims, Jews and Christians contributed to the building fund. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) was founded in Edmonton in 1982 and has since become an outspoken voice for the rights of Muslim women.

Two years ago, Stephen Harper came back to Calgary to officially open the largest mosque complex in Canada. The $15 million edifice was built by Ahmadiyya Muslims and designed to allow men and women to worship equally.

...

http://www.straightgoods.ca/2010/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=370&Cookies=yes

(Just thought this was interesting as an ex-Albertan.)

[ZeitgeistObserver]

1. It is interesting.

All these years, and only now has it become an issue.