On October 18th, the Canadian Province of Quebec passed Bill 62, the "religious neutrality law".
It bans people from wearing face coverings when giving or receiving public services.
That applies to anyone who works for the state, as well as anyone who uses public transportation,
goes to a hospital, or goes to school.
It will pretty much exclusively affect Muslim women who wear a niqab or a burqa.
Despite being called the "religious neutrality law", it clearly only targets Muslims.
The language in the bill doesn't explicitly say niqab or burqa, but the intention is clear
-- and the effect is that it only really affects Muslims.
Which is clearly not religiously neutral.
It's singling out people from a specific religion and targeting them.
It's making their clothing a source of public debate.
It's making people fear them.
There's nothing neutral about that.
Plus, all it ends up doing is preventing some Muslim women from accessing Government jobs
or using public services.
If they can't ride a bus, or go to the hospital, or go to school -- where do you expect them to go?
You know, I think that's actually the point.
Laws like these drive Muslim women out of the public eye -- an out of sight, out of
mind kind of thing.
People are irrationally afraid of Muslims, and so they want them to disappear.
Like one of the defensives of this ban I've heard is people saying that it's intended
to protect Muslim women, that they're being forced to wear niqabs and burqas by men.
But even if that were the case, this law wouldn't help them -- it would just make them hide away.
Plus, you can't just disregard women's autonomy.
Women can choose what they wear, and what they don't, and it's not our job to dictate that.
If someone wants to wear a niqab or a burqa, they should be allowed to.
This applies across the board.
If you think the government shouldn't tell women what to wear, then that should include
niqabs and burqas.
Women deserve full independence over how they dress.
I don't think that's a controversial statement, and I really think this discussion should end here.
Let women wear what they want. Period.
But, obviously, there are some more points to address.
For one, proponents of Bill 62 have said that it's necessary to see someone's face when
they're using a bus.
I say that's bullshit.
I've been on a bus in the middle of winter with a scarf wrapped around my face and a
beanie pulled down to my eyes.
I was fine.
Other people were doing a similar thing because it was cold.
There was no national security threat because most of face wasn't visible.
The whole fear of people having their faces covered somehow only applies to Muslim women.
Weird, huh.
What's weirder is that there isn't even like an epidemic of Muslim women in niqabs
or burqas committing crimes.
Like, proponents of Bill 62 made this up to address a threat that doesn't exist.
It's not like groups of burqa-clad women are roaming the streets of Quebec robbing banks.
Women in niqabs aren't constantly attacking people on buses.
And obviously, even if there was an incident with someone wearing a niqab or burqa, that
wouldn't make all other niqab- or burqa-wearing women guilty as well.
But it's just bizarre to me that there isn't even a problem to be addressed here.
Their concerns around safety are founded on the basis of literally nothing.
They're afraid of Muslims. That's it.
But there's no actual threat.
They tried to make a solution without first having a problem.
There were also concerns about how this law would be enforced.
Would women receive a fine for wearing face coverings?
Would they just be denied services?
Would they be arrested?
Who would enforce it?
The police, or the bus drivers and doctors?
Well, about a week after the law passed, Quebec's Justice Minister, Stephanie Vallee, said this:
"No one will be thrown off public transit, denied emergency healthcare or be chased out
of a public library.
We do not have the intention of setting up an uncovered-face police."
In their continued backtracking among criticism, the government said that people wouldn't
have to have their faces uncovered the whole time, just during identification.
So you would have to show your face to get on a bus, or rent a library book, or check-in
to the hospital -- but you wouldn't have to remain uncovered for the whole time you're
on the bus or in the library or in the hospital.
Which is weird, because I've definitely gotten on buses and the driver just never
looked at my face.
I'm sure I've been in libraries where nobody ever saw my face.
Everything was fine.
It's like they're making up things to be worried about because it's the only justification
they can think of to discriminate against Muslims without directly saying that's what they're doing.
Plus, the government went on to add that there won't be any fines or sanctions against
those who don't comply.
So it's basically not enforced at all.
Which really just means it's symbolic.
It's way to further "other" Muslim women.
It will make people more distrusting of Muslims, and it will draw attention to them even more now.
They say their intent is safety, but without enforcement, that doesn't seem to be the case.
I highly doubt the intent is to keep people safe.
Rather, it seems like the intent is to further stigmatize Muslims.
This law could be overturned by the courts in the future, but that process could take years.
In the meantime, you need fight back against the anti-Muslim stigma that this law is trying to push.
So yeah, that's the bullshit going on in Quebec right now.
I'd urge all of my Canadian viewers to be speaking up against this loudly.
Make it clear that you won't support this kind of legalized discrimination against a
religious group.
Defend those whose rights are being taken away.
Anyway, that's all for today.
Thanks for watching this video, and I'll see you next time.
For more infomation >> Aus diesem Grund trägt Prinz William nie einen Ehering! - Duration: 2:30. 
For more infomation >> Piotr z "Rolnik szuka żony" jednak wybrał Kasię? Jest oświadczenie produkcji - Duration: 3:46. 
For more infomation >> YouTube TV Now Available
For more infomation >> J'arrête de tout lui interdire, je le responsabilise ! - Duration: 3:33. 
For more infomation >> DENISE BROUSSEAU - J'ai tant de chance Lyly Oldies à Gogo - Duration: 2:36. 
No comments:
Post a Comment