Muslim women don't need to remove veil to vote

Brian Lilley, CJAD Ottawa Bureau Chief

It was an explosive issue during the last provincial election in Quebec, now it is back. Elections Canada is ruling that Muslim women will not have to remove their veils in order to vote during the September 17th by-elections in Quebec.

A new federal law, which received royal assent in June of this year, will require Canadians to prove their identity before casting a ballot. Voters will be asked for government issued photo-id before being allowed to vote. Those without the required id can provide two other pieces of acceptable identification or have another voter in the district vouch for them.

While Muslim women will be asked for photo-id such as a driver’s license, they will not be required to remove their veil. A spokesman for Elections Canada tells CJAD that women may choose to remove the veil but if they opt not to, they can simply provide a second piece of identification in addition to the driver’s license. Women who choose not to unveil will also be given the opportunity to swear an oath and have another voter vouch for them, but Elections Canada says two veiled individuals will not be allowed to vouch for each other.

Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer had taken a similar stance in advance of the last provincial election but later reversed his decision after threats of disruption and howls of complaints. According to some media reports at the time, some opponents of allowing veiled voters were encouraging citizens to show up with masks on.

The words veil, face and Muslim do not appear in Bill C-31 the federal law that requires proof of identity to vote. An Elections Canada spokesman was unable to confirm to CJAD that the veil ruling was an interpretation of the law by the Chief Electoral Officer and not a part of the law passed by MPs.

The veil ruling is not only in force for the three Quebec by-elections but according to Elections Canada would also apply to expected by-elections in Toronto Centre and Willowdale and to any future national elections.