Writing in the Montreal Gazette, Don Macpherson carries out a thorough demolition of the Parti Québécois government’s proposed “Charter of Quebec Values”.
Category Archives: Hijab
Alan Sked defends multiculturalism, opposes veil ban, accuses UKIP of ‘dog whistle policy to racists’
Amanda Kelly of Global News has interviewed Alan Sked, the founder and former leader of UKIP, to get his perspective on Quebec’s Charter of Values.
Charter of Quebec values would ban religious symbols for civil servants
Public employees would not be allowed to wear overt religious symbols at work under the proposed charter of Quebec values, released by the Parti Québécois today.
The minister in charge of the charter, Bernard Drainville, announced at the national assembly that, if adopted by the legislature, the wearing of kippas, turbans, burkas, hijabs and “large” crosses would be banned for civil servants while they are on the job. “If the state is neutral, those working for the state should be equally neutral in their image,” said Drainville.
Headscarf photo ‘ruins job interview chances’, study of German firms shows
In a study due to be released in full at the end of the year, economists at the University of Linz in Austria examined whether wearing a headscarf affected women when applying for jobs at German companies.
Initial results show that German firms appeared less inclined to invite an applicant for an interview if they were wearing a headscarf in their photo. This also applied, to a lesser extent, for applicants with a non-German surname.
Muslim students banned from wearing veils at Birmingham Metropolitan College
Angry Muslim students have hit out at college chiefs after being banned from wearing religious veils for “security” reasons.
All students, staff and visitors to Birmingham Metropolitan College have been told to remove any face coverings so individuals are “easily identifiable at all times”. But the controversial ban of the niqab – a veil that leaves only a slot for the eyes – has sparked fury among some Muslim girls, who say they are being discriminated against.
The policy was revealed just days after politicians discussed banning the burka. Kettering MP Philip Hollobone – who refuses to see constituents who will not lift their veils – raised the issue in a Private Member’s Bill, saying it “goes against the basic part of the British way of life”.
Abercrombie and Fitch ‘wrongly fired’ Muslim over headscarf
US clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch wrongly fired a Muslim worker for wearing a headscarf, a judge has ruled. Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled the firm violated anti-discrimination laws when it sacked Hani Khan from a Hollister brand store.
Ms Khan was initially allowed to wear a scarf in the Hollister brand’s colours at the San Mateo, California store, but was later fired. The retailer had argued deviation from its “look policy” would affect sales.
But Judge Rogers of the Northern District of California said Abercrombie had not proven it faced undue hardship to accommodate employees who wear headscarves for religious reasons.
The lawsuit, brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, now goes to a trial on 30 September where a jury will determine damages.
Hijabs banned in Siberian village school
Prosecutors in southern Siberia have demanded that high school girls in a remote mountain village give up Muslim headscarves in classes to avoid violating a new nationwide secular dress code.
A check found some hijab-wearing students in a school in the Kosh-Agachsky district of Russia’s Altai Republic, local prosecutors said on their website Friday.
‘Tory Taliban’ burqa ban bill to be debated in parliament
The Face Covering (Prohibition) Bill will get its second reading in Parliament today, and if passed into law the bill would would make wearing burqas in public illegal.
The bill was proposed by Conservative MPs Philip Hollobone [pictured], Peter Bone and Christopher Chope as one of 40 proposals in their “alternative Queen’s speech” in June. The proposals, which included leaving the EU and tougher regulations for asylum seekers, have earned the trio the epithet “Tory Taliban” from Labour MP Angela Eagle.
Quebec teachers’ union calls for freedom to wear hijabs, kippas
Teachers in Quebec say the Parti Quebecois proposal to prevent people from wearing religious icons and symbols is extremist – and not truly secular.
The Autonomous Teachers Federation (FAE) approves, in principle, of secular values and the separation of religion from the business of the state, but says that is not what the PQ is actually proposing.
“The right of our members to work is at stake,” said FAE president Sylvain Mallette, pointing out that many teachers wear religious icons, being they crosses, kippas, hijabs, or something else which reflects their faith.
CAIR-NY asks Walmart to discipline manager over anti-Muslim Facebook post
The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today called on Walmart to discipline an assistant manager at a store in Hamburg, N.Y., who reportedly posted a photo of Muslim customers on Facebook accompanied with derogatory comments.
In his posting, the assistant manager wrote: “Halloween came early this year … do they really have to f**kin dress like that … your [sic] in my country … get that f**kin s*** off!!!!!!”
In a letter to Walmart, CAIR-NY asked that “appropriate disciplinary action” be taken against the manager.