October 27, 2007
OTTAWA -- The Harper government yesterday introduced legislation requiring all voters - including veiled Muslim women - to show their faces before being allowed to cast ballots in federal elections.
This same manufactured controversy is getting old.
Do I have to bring out the parable of the old lady and the biker again?
Some sectors of the population just love it when the mainstream legitimizes their bigotry. And politicians long ago discovered that they earn popularity points with them whenever they do or say something against marginalized minorities. Scapegoating can be good for the polls. The power differential means the bullies can have their way; how many Muslim women will get to vote on this bill?
3 comments:
It's Canada not Saudi Arabia. Only in Saudi Arabia the veils fully cover the face.
There are indeed some women here who wear the niqab so just their eyes show - they could have immigrated from Saudi Arabia, for instance.
The question is not how many Muslim women will get a chance to vote on this legislation, but how many veiled women will vote if it passes.
Consider it a really good way for the CPoC to suppress the vote of a certain segment of the population that wouldn't vote for them anyway.
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