Canadian Politicians Criticize Deference To Muslim Women In Vote ID Rules

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Canadian politicians are criticizing the decision by Marc Mayrand, head of Elections Canada, to permit Muslim women to be identified at the polls in upcoming Quebec elections without removing their full-face veil. (See prior posting.) Maynard said the women would be asked to voluntarily remove their face covering, but they cannot be required to do so under current law. They have the alternative of taking an oath and being identified by someone else. Parliament members critical of Maynard say they will press for an amendment to require voters to show their face for identification purposes. Some Canadian Muslim groups say the controversy has been blown out of proportion and that the small number of women who wear the niqab are used to removing it for identification purposes. These developments were reported yesterday by Jurist and by the Prince George Citizen.