Bloc Qubcois anti-niqab ad takes aim at NDP

A new ad from the Bloc Qubcois is targeting NDP voters unhappy with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair's comments Wednesday defending women's right to wear the niqab at citizenship ceremonies.

"Should you have to hide your face to vote NDP?"the ad asks in French.

The text is superimposed on an image of the House of Commons through the eyeholes of a black niqab, the full-face covering worn by certain Muslim women.

Earlier this month, the Federal Court ruled thatwomen can wear a niqab when taking their oath of citizenship, after a woman brought a case objecting to the 2011 lawrequiring her to remove it during the ceremony.

Bloc targets NDP over niqab ad

10 years ago

Duration 8:38

Is the ad effective or racist?

The womanargued it requires her to temporarily abandon her Sunni Muslim belief, and that female officials could easilytake her oath in private, becausethe law doesn't require people to be "seen" taking it.

In front of a receptive audience inVictoriaville, Que., on Feb. 12, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the federal government would appeal the ruling.

• Niqab appeal by Ottawa is questioned over motivation

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party werequick to condemn the decision to appeal, saying the Conservatives werepandering to fears about Muslim Canadians in an effort to sway votes.

Then Wednesday, NDPLeader Tom Mulcair took a stand as well. Answering a reporter's question in French, he pointed out the context for Harper announcing his appeal, and said there was "vilification"in the government's policy.

"I see that Muslims are often scapegoats for political debate.And that, I find it heartbreaking," he said in French.

'Fundamentalist multiculturalism'

The issue is particularly heated in Mulcair's home province of Quebec, where first a"reasonable accommodation" billand then the Parti Qubcois's failed secular charter provoked divisive partisan debate, rallyingthose uncomfortable with visible and public aspects of multiculturalism.

Last month, the PQ announced it will revive a religious neutrality bill, calling Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard's inaction on the issue unacceptable.

The latestadvertisement from their federal counterparts suggestsHarper's Conservatives aren't the only ones targetingvoters holdingthese views for electoral gain.

In the 2011 election, Quebec voters drifted away from the BQ in favour of the surging New Democrats, then under "Le bonJack"Layton's leadership.

The separatist party never recovered from the "Orange Crush" that reduced the BQto a handful of seats and cost it official party status in the Commons. Under new leader Mario Beaulieu, itis still languishing in public opinion polls compared with its previouslydominant status among Quebec's federal seats.

Beaulieu reacted strongly to Mulcair's comments Wednesday, calling his views the "fundamentalist multiculturalism" of an apostle and "disturbing cultural relativism."

"We believe that the face should be uncovered when you become a citizen, as when voting.This, it seems to me, is the least of things," he said in a French statement reported by La Presse Canadienne.

The decision to appeal was featured in Conservativefundraisingemails and on social media.

Messages underImmigration Minister Chris Alexander's name madereferenceto not only theniqab, which covers the face, but also the morecommonhijab, which covers women's hair but leaves the face visible.

Before entering politics, Alexander was Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan.