Face veils banned for citizenship oaths

[glorybebe]

The government is placing a ban on face coverings such as niqabs for people swearing their oath of citizenship, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Monday.

The ban takes effect immediately.

As a result, Muslim women will have to remove their niqabs or any other face-covering garments, such as burkas, before they can recite the oath of citizenship to become Canadians. Citizenship judges will be directed to enforce the rules at ceremonies over which they preside.

It's a "public declaration that you are joining the Canadian family and it must be taken freely and openly," he said, calling it "frankly, bizarre" that women were allowed to wear face veils while they swear their citizenship oaths.

Kenney said he doesn't accept that it's a religious obligation to wear the veil, explaining that when Muslim women perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required by their faith, they are required not to cover their faces.

"It's a cultural tradition, which I think reflects a certain view about women that we don't accept in Canada. We want women to be full and equal members of Canadian society and certainly when they're taking the citizenship oath, that's the right place to start," Kenney said in an interview on CBC News Network.

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We need to stand up more to let people know that we are a country with laws and rules that were in place before they got here and they must abide them. If they don't like our society, then don't move here.

Edited December 13, 2011 by glorybebe

[Bavarian Raven]

sounds good to be

[__Kratos__]

Why is Canada so racist against ninjas?

[Thanato]

Why is Canada so racist against ninjas?

Because they are to sneaky... if we cant see their faces they then disappear and well then you're dead.

~Thanato