MONTREAL - Saying it's a matter of principle, the Canadian government has banned burqas, niqabs, and all other face-coverings when new Canadians take an oath of citizenship.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney made the announcement Monday morning in Montreal.
It's not known many people have taken citizenship oaths while wearing burqas or niqabs, but Kenney said he has never seen a woman covering her face during the more than two dozen citizenship ceremonies he has attended in the past three years.
Kenney said he has received complaints from those who administer the ceremony that they could not tell if people wearing face veils were indeed taking the oath and promising to obey Canadian laws and customs.
He said one such case happened last month in Mississauga, Ontario, when four women wore veils as they became citizens.
"When Muslim women do the hajj to Mecca as part of their Qu'ranic obligation... they are required to show their face, so the notion that this is somehow a religious obligation is something I don't accept," said Kenney.
The suggestion has hit a nerve with some among the Muslim community.
"Some women might see it as cultural and others might see it as religious," said Nermine Barbouch, executive director of the Canadian Muslim Forum.
Either way the new rule contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"We can't contradict our own system. Our country gives those women and every citizen to show up dressed as they wish especially if it's related to religion," said Barbouch.
The Muslim Council of Montreal says the new rule is irrelevant. According to Salam Elmenyawi, if security is an issue niqab wearers should show their faces.
"It's seriously disturbing to make a law for a non-existent problem, just to show that the Muslim community is some kind of a problem, or that you'd like to fix the community with special laws," said Salam Elmenyawi. "It's enforcing negative and false stereotypes."
Face-coverings banned while dealing with government in Quebec
Last year Quebec banned women from wearing niqabs when dealing with government officials, such as when renewing drivers' licenses or getting a Medicare card.
A 29-year-old woman was also expelled, twice, for refusing to remove her niqab while taking a French-language class. Teachers had said they could not hear her properly or correct her pronunciation unless they could see her mouth.
The Muslim Council of Montreal says there may be only around 25 Muslims in Quebec who actually wear face-coverings.
Of the more than 118,000 visitors to the health board's Montreal office in 2008-09 only 10 people -- or less than 0.00009 per cent of cases -- involved niqab-wearers who asked for special dispensation.
There were zero such cases among the 28,000 visitors to the Quebec City service centre over the same time period.
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