Members of the CAQ, including at least one minister, have voted in favour of a proposal\u00a0calling for a complete ban on face coverings in public spaces.<\/p>\n
The original resolution, presented by the youth wing at the party’s caucus in Gatineau, Que. Saturday, called for stricter public security measures, including a ban on masked protests and on encampments in both public and private spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But an amendment presented by youth wing member Benjamin Archambault, and receiving slim majority support from the party’s members, goes even further by calling for a complete ban on face coverings\u00a0in public.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In a free and equal society, we cannot accept that certain women are hidden up to their eyes behind a veil,” Archambault argued. “We already ask that faces be uncovered to get a passport, to pass an exam or to drive. Why make an exception in public?”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault told reporters his caucus has yet to take a stance on the issue, but that it is a question worth asking.<\/p>\n
“Other countries did it so I think it’s normal that we think about it,” he said. “That we look at what are the pros, the cons. So that’s what we’ll do in the next few months.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The purpose of such a ban would be twofold, Secularism Minister Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge added. On the one hand, he says, it reinforces public security, and on\u00a0the other it promotes state secularism.<\/p>\n
“This all said, it raises issues that need to be seriously examined from a rights and freedoms point of view and a legal point of view,” Roberge said. “I really can’t say if we will go in this direction.”<\/p>\n
Roberge added he voted in favour of the resolution because he feels it’s a debate worth having, but it’s too soon to say if the government would ban the\u00a0niqab, for instance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The minister is focusing his energy for now on tabling a bill this fall to strengthen secularism and\u00a0ban\u00a0prayer in public spaces.<\/p>\n
The amended resolution on face coverings was far from unanimous, with 152 votes in favour of it and 150 against.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public Security Minister Ian Lafreni\u00e8re was one of those who opposed the amendment, explaining the idea seems too broad and would be difficult to apply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Roberge, who voted in favour, admitted the term ‘face covering’ may be large, as\u00a0people have their faces covered in public for many reasons, including\u00a0bundling up in cold weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the CAQ, including at least one minister, have voted in favour of a proposal\u00a0calling for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-186542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}