Niqab Wearing Woman Expelled from College French Class

An unidentified Egyptian woman has filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission, after an official from the immigration ministry expelled her from her college francization course - a course immigrants to the province are required to take.

The woman's offence was to wear a niqab to class.

Of 39,000 immigrant students taking such courses in the provinces last year, a number of whom asked for accommodations for religious or cultural reasons, she was the only one to be expelled. A similar case involving three women who wear the niqab was quickly resolved at the CEGEP de Ste-Foy last year, at the school level.

This is the first time the government has become involved to such a degree in a school-based debate over reasonable accommodation, and the move has reignited the controversy over the wearing of veils in Quebec. While the expulsion was the decision of director of francization Roger Giroux, immigratrion minister Yolande James was directly consulted beforehand.

Now that the student has appealed to the Human Rights Commission, government officials will remain closely involved with the case.

What is the Niqab?

Unlike the hijab, which veils the head but leaves the face visible, the niqab is a head covering that reveals only the eyes of the wearer. Both head coverings are worn exclusively by women, and are part of a religious commitment to modesty.

This modesty has been expressed differently throughout history: the wimple of a nun; prayer veils worn by Catholic and Jewish women; the "babushka" of older women in Eastern Europe; caps and bonnets worn by Amish, Mennonite, Quaker and Puritan women; wedding and mourning veils. Modest dress has at various times also dictated such things as the type of neckline acceptable, and the length of a woman's sleeves or skirt. Young female students today may be irked by a school policy that forbids spaghetti straps, exposed midriffs or undergarments, or short shorts. One wonders how easily they would adapt to the itchy black stockings and heavy boots of yesteryear, to not being allowed to wear pants or shorts at all, or to having to be covered from neck to ankle even in the worst heat and humidity of a Montreal summer!

The Veil in Quebec Classrooms

Learning a new language is a task that involves both theory and practice. Along with lectures and written exercises, there must also be oral work that helps the student to become more familiar with the sounds of this new language. For an instructor to evaluate a student's progress and correct errors, it is necessary for the whole face to be visible - not just the eyes, as is the case with women who wear the niqab. The same issues may not arise in all classroom settings. For example, it would not necessarily follow that a math or history teacher must see the whole face in order to teach, correct or evaluate learning.

Head covering has also been a concern in physical education activities, but in the majority of cases it would seem that students and teachers have been able to work out arrangements that allow for safety and fair student evaluation, as well as for the religious expression and modesty of Muslim students. Some Muslim students and athletes have adopted a sports hijab, which allows them to safely take part in competitive sports like soccer and martial arts, for example. Islamic swimwear is also available today.

Working Out Issues Amicably

Women who wear the veil have generally worked with Quebec government officials to accommodate their religious expression, while also addressing concerns around such subjects as voting and the issuing of photo identification. When three women at the CEGEP de Ste-Foy arrived for francization classes last year they were asked to unveil their faces during class. Instructors at the school explained their reasons for wanting the women to show their faces, and all three agreed to lower their veils during class.

Civil rights lawyer Julius Gray is quoted as saying certain accommodations are acceptable, but the wearing of a niqab in educational settings is not reasonable. "A kirpan, a kippa, a kerchief is reasonable. This goes too far," he says.

Complaints from the CEGEP de Saint-Laurent in this particular case seem to stem more from the woman's requests for other accommodations, despite the fact that the niqab was the focal point of the involvement with the immigration ministry.

The student was uncomfortable unveiling her face in a mixed gender group, and thus asked for a number of accommodations that allowed her to fulfil class requirements without compromising her modesty. Initially, the professor and the college attempted to grant her requests.

She worked with the female professor, one on one in a quiet corner of the classroom, so the instructor could view her face while speaking and make necessary corrections to her pronunciation. She also gave an oral presentation at the back of the classroom, with her back turned to her classmates. When she felt awkward sitting facing male students in the U-shaped seating arrangement set up by the teacher, others moved in order to make her more comfortable.

But the woman's multiple demands made the atmosphere in the class tense, says Luc Fortin, attaché of immigration minister Yolande James. This created hard feelings between the veiled student and her classmates, and also between her and the instructor. As time went by the student began to ask more and more of the college, and became less cooperative in class.

It is unclear who brought the matter to the attention of the immigration ministry, nor when or why this happened. All that is known is that the matter dragged out between February and November of 2009. At this point Roger Giroux, the government's director of francization ordered the student to remove her niqab or face expulsion.

The student chose expulsion, and has filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission. In an interesting turn of events, Montreal police are now defending a policy which says they cannot force a woman to remove her niqab for a mug shot to be taken. The policy is based on legal advice that they cannot force anyone to remove any face coverings - it's not not a matter of accommodation, they say.

The Ministry of Education (MELS) does not have jurisdiction over these adult francization courses. It is, however, preparing documents to guide primary and secondary school teachers through situations revolving around reasonable accommodation.
Niqab Denies the Equality of Men and Women

The Quebec government believes that wearing a niqab is a denial of the equality between men and women, one of the key values of our society. This is the message staff are communicating on behalf of Immigration Minister Yolande James. A similar sentiment is heard from staffers in the office of Premier Jean Charest: Quebec residents can only receive services from the government if they uncover their faces.

These attitudes echo very closely the statements of Nicholas Sarkozy, who not so long ago spoke out against the wearing of garments like the niqab and the burqa. "In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," he said. "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement - I want to say it solemnly: it will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."
The Veil in France

When France banned religious symbols from its schools and colleges in 2004, many felt that the law was aimed specifically at Islamic headdress. Two threads stand out in the discussions that took place before the law was passed:

Women may have chosen to wear a veil, but it impossible to know who has made a free choice and who has not. There were concerns that girls as young as 11 were facing strong family and peer pressure to wear the hijab. The veil was often seen as a sign of female subservience.

Women who did not wear the veil were often strongly opposed to it, particularly female teachers. The veil was seen as a threat to the agenda of the French school system - to the same laïcité (secularism) we have adopted here in Quebec, but more especially to the equality of male and female individuals in society. The report that led to the creation of the law stated, "the Republic must face this situation, and that schools must remain a place of freedom and emancipation for women." It also addressed the matter of girls absenting themselves from certain classes such as physical education, saying that this was not an instance for personal or parental choice: only the school or a licensed doctor could grant such absences.

The initial concerns regarding the unidentified Egyptian student wearing a niqab to her francization classes appear to have stemmed from pedagogical limitations, but the focus now seems to be on whether we should tolerate the wearing of the niqab in Quebec schools.

While it is important that Quebec society have the right to define those values which it will not surrender, if we wish immigrants to integrate into our society we do need to be patient while they begin to find their way around.

The example of the situation in Ste-Foy is a case where giving a full and clear explanation before the beginning of classes not only prevented misunderstandings, but also resulted in a clear sign that the women were beginning to move forward in integrating themselves into our society. Which is, after all the goal.

Sources:

"Banni, le niqab" Robert Dutrisac et Lisa-Marie Gervais (Le Devoir)

"French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools" FactArchive.com

"Montreal police defend policy on niqab" Shuyee Lee (Examiner.com)

"Une musulmane expulsée d'un cours à cause du niqab" Vincent Marissal (La Presse)

"Niqab heats up rights controversy" Max Harrold (The Gazette)

"Une police du niqab? Non merci" Michèle Ouimet (La Presse)

"Port du niqab au cégep: accommodement sans heurts à Ste-Foy"Daphnée Dion-Viens (Le Soleil)

"Sarkozy says burqas are 'not welcome' in France" Associated Press

"Student expelled for wearing niqab: report" Max Harrold (The Gazette)