Quebec bus drivers seek clarity on law that prohibits passengers from covering faces

Montreal bus drivers are hoping for clarity and bracing themselves for headaches after Quebec lawmakers adopted a law today that would require a Muslim woman who wears a niqab or burka to uncover her face to ride a city bus.

The Liberal government's Bill 62 on religious neutrality prohibits public workers, as well as those receiving a public service,from covering their faces.

I don't have a car, I don't have anybody to drive me around, so it will just block me from the rest of the world.- ZaynebBinruchd, 21, who wears a niqab

The guidelines for how those working in the public sector should carry out the law, however,may not be readyuntil next summer, after a round of consultations.

That leavesthe union representing employees ofMontreal's transit corporation, the STM,worried that individual drivers will have to make a judgment call in the meantime.

"STM bus drivers don't want that responsibility. When it comes to applying the law, they want clear directives from the STM," union spokesperson RonaldBoisrondsaid in an interview.

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In an emailed statement, the STM said it's still evaluating how the law would be applied and "the instructions to employees that will result."

"Our goal will be to prevent employees from interpreting the law in their own way," said STM spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay.

Quebec Justice MinisterStphanieValle told CBC Montreal's Daybreakearlier this week that the lawis necessary for "communication reasons, identification reasons andsecurity reasons."

The ban on face coverings would be for the duration of the service provided, she said, meaning a niqabor burkawould need to be removed for the entire bus ride.

'There's no logic,' Muslim woman says

ZaynebBinruchd, a 21-year-old who wears a niqab, says she doesn't have a car and takes the bus regularly as much as six times a day.She said she'd rather stay home than take off her niqab to take a bus.

"I go to mall with my friends, I go out, I go to the library, so it will just make me stay home," she said.

"I don't have a car, I don't have anybody to drive me around, so it will just block me from the rest of the world."

Wearing the niqab is "important to me," she said. She sees no logic in the law.

"I have to go to the hospital, if I go to court I will take it off, I have no problem at all, but give me a reason why I have to take it off and I will take it off. But there's no logic, there's no reason," she said.

Legal challenges on horizon?

Daniel Sale, a political science professor at Concordia University, said the lack of clarity around the implementation of the law could lead to confusion.

"What should a bus driver do if a woman with a face cover comes into the bus? What should he do? That we don't know," he said.

Salesaid the law is likely to be subject to a legal challenge under the CanadianCharter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as theQuebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

The legislation includes the possibility ofan exemption for those who make a "serious"request for accommodation onreligious grounds, though it's unclear how that wouldbe evaluated.

Shaheeh Ashraf of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women said that opens the door to additional problems.

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"Are these niqabi ladies going to be wearing a tag intheir neck saying they're exempt [from]this law?" she asked. "How is it going to work?"