Couillard government concerned about rule forcing political candidates to remove head coverings

The Couillard government says it is concerned about a rule that, in effect,bars prospective political candidates who wear head coverings such as turbans or hijabs from running for office.

Quebec's chief electoral officer(DGEQ) requires all prospective candidates to submit a photo that appears on ballots. In that photo, the candidate's head must beuncovered.

The rule was implemented in 2012 and is enforced by the DGEQ, which overseeselections in the province. The rule doesn't apply at the federal or municipal level.

TheDGEQhas not responded toCBCrequests for comment.

Laurence Tth,aspokesperson for KathleenWeil, minister responsiblefor the the reform of democratic institutions, said Weil will bring up the subject when she meetsthe DGEQlaterthis month.

Headscarves and other religious headdressare a hot-button issue in Quebec, where many believe religious symbols have no place in secular public institutions.

The next provincial election is set to take place Oct.1.

Form of systemic discrimination, Green Party leader says

Alex Tyrrell, leader of the Quebec Green Party, calls the rule a form of systemic discrimination andsays he has been working on getting the rule changed for four years.

FatimataSow,a woman who wears a hijab, tried to run for his party in the 2014 election, but she was refused because she was wearing a hijab, he said.

"These people decide to wear these symbols every day. They can't simply take them off, and so to come with a photograph of a person not wearing what they wear every day is not reasonable, and it's excluding these people from running," he told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

Tyrrell said Sow wasn't comfortable with waging a public battle to defend her right to run, especially given that the Parti Qubcois'sso-called "charter of values"was in heavy rotation in the news at the time.

"It says very clearly in electoral law that every person who has the right to vote in Quebec can sign up to run as a candidate, and unfortunately, when you push people into these situations, they can sometimes feel marginalized and not feel comfortable," he said.

Qubec Solidaire MNAAmir Khadiragrees, calling the rule on political candidates not wearing head coverings"a blatant contradiction."

"For some people, that visual identity is important," Khadir said.

Tyrrell said he wrote a formal complaint letter to the DGEQ and received a response saying nothing could be done.

He said he and representatives ofother partiesmet Pierre Reid, who heads the DGEQ, in October and they were told there are no plans to change the rule, and it would be up to the province to do so.

Tthsaidthegovernment can't force theDGEQto change the rule because it's an independent institution.

Despite the fact that the two bodies seem to be passing the buck, Tyrrellsaysthe fact is, the government could change the rule if it wanted to.

"Maybe it's a question of lacking political courage to go and defend people's rights who wear these religious symbols to run in elections, but I think it's essential for the democracy."