I Feel a Rant Coming On...

Uncontroversial
Originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

There is a debate in Quebec about "reasonable accommodation" of immigrants from non-western countries, particularly muslims. Some of the debate has racist overtones, but mostly I think it is just people trying to cope with the challenge of other peoples' ways. Nevertheless, I was reading yet another article on the subject this morning, when this photo came to mind. I didn't take a lot of photos of women while in Pakistan, but this is one I did manage to capture as we drove by in our car, in Karachi last June 1.

Today's article, in La Presse, was about a decision by the Directeur Général des Élections du Québec to require veiled Muslim women wishing to vote to identify themselves to election officials by lifting their veils to show their faces. The response (also in the newspaper) from the Muslim community was that this was really not much of an issue, since the vast majority of women will do just this if necessary, though preferably to a woman rather than a man (and fair enough). They just wish the elections officials had spoken to them about it before making the big announcement.

The response from some other commentators was a lot of lofty tsk-tsking and worrying about social strife.

The announcement was apparently made necessary by several factors, including hostile verbal attacks from some quarters, compounded by a stupid series of articles in another newspaper (the Journal de Montréal) in which the Niqab was compared to any mask, and people threatened to "protest" (against what, exactly?) by going to the polls wearing Darth Vader masks and the like. The DGE even received physical threats and has had to hire bodyguards.

What really burns me about this is that for a couple of days, André Boisclair of the Parti Québécois has been using this fabricated "issue" of veiled women voting in his election campaign. I suppose he and his supporters have no shame. No more than Jean Charest, the Liberal leader and (for the moment) Premier of the province. He hasn't been making quite the hay that Boisclair has been making, but he is clearly not on the right page here, taking the same stand. This morning's Globe and Mail has a good editorial about it.

My observation has been that the Muslim community in Québec has not been at the origin of much of the debate about "reasonable accommodation". On the contrary, much of the hostility - and debate - seems to be coming from the majority community, and mostly from people who are being inconvenienced in very minor ways (or not at all) by the need to deal with the demands of other cultures on the members of those cultures themselves. What difference does it make to me if a woman covers her face in public? What difference does it make to me if a man or woman wishes a space in which to pray in a public institution? Why do I care (to take a different religion and a different issue) that a police force adjusts its uniform to allow officers (and fellow citizens) to wear their (culturally and religiously required) turbans while on duty. In other words, I just don't get the controversy.

And this tendency to talk about "us" and "them"? Discouraging. Never mind those born here - children of immigrants. They are fellow citizens, period. But think of immigrants: If someone has chosen to move permanently to Canada, and if Canada has accepted him or her as a resident and ultimately a new citizen, then "they" are "us". They get to add their distinctiveness to our community, and we get to grow and learn from them. This isn't open-mindedness; it's just the way things are. And so much the better for my country.

I think most Canadians get this, and in Quebec as much as anywhere else. But as usual, a small number of bigots are getting far too much press of late, and the vast majority that just wants to get along and figure things out is being misled about the wishes and expectations of minority communities.

On a more minor point...

From my perspective, many of the veiled muslim women in Quebec look very dour, in their black niqabs and chadors. This is just a fashion comment - it has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity or whether the women in question should dress this way (see above for that). I can't help but think, though, that perhaps if they dressed more colourfully the whole issue would take on a different tone. Pakistani women dress in bright colours: It's fun. The woman in the picture is actually a bit drab for Pakistan.

But ... as someone who is himself often cited for violations by the fashion police, far be it from me to give advice. Well, apparently not all that far. Ok, end of rant.