Monday, March 08, 2010
A Muslim expelled from a course because of niqab
Unlike the hijab, niqab covers the mouth. A teacher of Cegep St. Lawrence said that its port limited interaction skills of a student taking a course in French. This archive photo was taken in Egypt.
Vincent Marissal
La Presse
The Department of Immigration of Quebec was reached last November, to expel a French courses for immigrants a woman of Egyptian origin who refused to reveal his face in the classroom.
After months (February-November) attempts to accommodate the part of the teaching and direction of Cégep Saint-Laurent, the situation became tense may cause clashes within the institution.
According to what the press could learn a senior officer (Roger Giroux, CEO of francization the Immigration Department) intervened personally to ask for the umpteenth time, the lady to remove her niqab (which leaves appear as eyes), otherwise it would be expelled from the course. She refused, demanding a written confirmation from the Department's position, what she got.
In the letter, Mr. Giroux said that the reasons were clearly explained to students excluded that it could pursue its way with her niqab but it had plenty of time to complete the training online.
The lady has complained in the days before the Commission on Human Rights, who will study in the coming months.
The whole story began in February 2009 when the Egyptian immigrant was enrolled in a French course at CEGEP Saint-Laurent. She has the permanent resident status in Canada. To register, she provided a photograph of her face was uncovered and she met without niqab, the evaluator francisation services.
So far, so good. Problems arise however when the first courses because some men are in the class and she refuses to disclose in their presence.
Conciliatory, teacher supply, in agreement with the direction of the college, hide with her in a corner of the class to do exercises dialog. For these special sessions, the student agrees to withdraw her niqab.
An oral back
This arrangement is flawed, however, soon struck the very objectives of the course, which will facilitate exchanges between students, oral presentations and scenarios. In addition, the woman refuses to increasingly comply with the agreement with his teacher. The latter, along the direction of CEGEP Saint-Laurent, reminds him that for educational reasons, it is essential to see the faces of students in trade in order to correct their speech and to see their facial expressions.
At one time, we push the same accommodation to enable the student to make an oral statement at the bottom of the class back, because there are men in the room.
The relationship between Muslim students and a teacher, but also with the rest of the class gets tough on the edge of open conflict. We finally reached the point of no return when the lady, after a pause, asked three men to move because they face it in class, arranged in U by the teacher for precisely facilitate trade. The men and the teacher agree, but the situation became untenable and clearly we are heading towards a confrontation.
According to our sources, students veiled while systematically refusing to uncover her face, even alone with his teacher, and she shows more and more militant, even aggressive.
Therefore, the case "goes" to the department and even to the office of Immigration Minister Yolande James, who follows closely with its staff, its evolution.
The ultimatum and the expulsion of the student were decided at the political level, with the intervention of a senior official and the concurrence of the Minister James.
File politically explosive
Many Quebecers applaud the government's firmness on this issue, but politically and legally, the ground is slippery.
At the time, in several European countries, a debate rages on religious symbols, especially the veil (hijab, niqab or burqa), Quebec intervenes for the first time in a classroom. Two similar cases have arisen recently in French classes for immigrants at Cégep de Sainte-Foy, but both students were bent to the demands of the course.
Compete by the principles of secularism and equality between men and women, pillars of the policy of the Quebec government, and freedom of religious practice, recognized by the Quebec and Canadian charters. This is a crucial test for the government and the first strong political reaction from the Bouchard-Taylor commission.
In Quebec, it thus follows the case closely. Our sources say the government is hopeful of winning its case before the Commission on Human Rights.
"We believe having done everything reasonable to accommodate this person, but there is a limit, and we have taken here. For us, it is important to send a clear message", said an informant close to the case.
In his complaint to the Commission on Human Rights, students veiled invokes freedom of religious practice. The government, for its part, says that wearing the niqab is incompatible with the educational goals and that many attempts have failed a reasonable accommodation.
Quebec also remember that all immigrants are engaged in writing for the month of January 2009 to respect Quebec values (including gender), they are learning about these common values and they must learn French.
If they are unwilling or unable to follow these courses in person, newcomers can do online, and all information on common values is explained in several languages, including Arabic, on the ministry website Immigration.
Conciliation or hardline?
This is not the political decision that is subject to a test with this case, but also throughout the approach established by the Charest government in the wake of the report of the Bouchard-Taylor commission.
According to all recent polls on the issue of reasonable accommodation, the majority of Quebecers think their government shows usually too conciliatory.
In recent years, highly publicized cases, the SAAQ particular have fueled the controversy and ignited the open-line programming.
In government, as the debate rages between proponents of conciliation and the supporters of hard-line debate spiced by the positions of opposition parties.
It is unlikely that the government legislates on wearing religious symbols. Legal advice circulating in some state departments are, however, communication problems and security-related wear the niqab and burqa.
Another known case is currently before the Commission on Human Rights. Sondos Abdelatif, a Muslim girl who was training to become a prison warden, filed a complaint in 2007 after being dismissed by Correctional Services of Quebec because she refused to remove her hijab.
She advocates freedom of religious practice while his former employer says that wearing the headscarf poses risks to the security guard.
Link
Labels: Arab World, Québec, Religion and fanaticism
# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 6:04 PM 
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