No consensus at Quebec niqab hearings

There was little consensus on Tuesday as hearings began in Quebec's legislature on adraft law that would force Muslim women who wear fullface coverings for religious reasonsto remove them before receiving certain public services.

The proposed law Bill 94 was tabled earlier this year following a controversy over a Montreal woman who refused to uncover her facewhile attendingpublicly funded French-language classes for new immigrants.

The billdoes not specifically mention any particular religion but says anyone seeking a public service related to security, communication or identification must show their face.

Thecontroversy was sparked by Nama Atef Amed, who is of Egyptian origin and wears a niqab.

Amed filed a complaint earlier this yearwith the province's human rights commission after she was kicked out of a government-funded language class at the CGEP de Saint-Laurent in Montreal.

"We're essentially tabling this legislation to respond to an interest in the community to deal with reasonable accommodation [of minorities]," said Justice Minister Kathleen Weil on Tuesday.

"Some of the principal points of the legislation is to determine what is reasonable and what isn't."

The opposition Parti Qubcois said the legislation is too weak and that only a full-blown law declaring secularism is acceptable.

"You never solve anything without principles and clear answers to clear questions," said the party's immigration critic, Louise Beaudoin.

"For example, you could still have obvious [religious symbols], wear obvious [symbols] in the civil service, except the niqab and the burqa."

Some groups say the billmight beaninfringement of Charter rights, such as freedom of religion.

Even though the bill does not say so explicitly, itis de factotargeting Muslims, said Dominique Peschard, president of the Quebec League of Rights and Liberties.

The head of Quebec's bar association, Pierre Chagnon, warned that Charter rights, such as freedom of religion, must be taken into account.

Chagnon said the bill may go too far.

If enacted as it is, he said, the law couldmean thata Muslim woman visiting Quebec who wears a niqab could be denied information at a tourism office unless she agreed to uncover her face.

The hearings at Quebec's national assembly are expected to last all week.