Canada PoliticsTory MP sorry for telling niqab-wearing women to ‘stay the hell where you came from’
A Conservative MP is having humble pie for breakfast — instead of a hearty Guinness — on this St. Patrick’s Day.
Larry Miller, the MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, is facing significant backlash and accusations of racism from comments he made Monday on a local riding radio station about the ongoing niqab debate, and he quickly retracted (some of) his statements Tuesday morning.
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The debate stems from a federal court ruling that deemed the Conservative government’s ban on wearing a face covering during the citizenship oath unlawful, and that the ban even contravened the government’s own citizenship laws.
But the government, and Conservative MPs, don’t seem satisfied with the ruling.
“Frankly, if you don’t like that or don’t want to do that, stay the hell where you came from,” Miller said over air Monday. “I feel most Canadians feel the same.”
“I’m so sick and tired of people wanting to come here because they know it’s a good country, and then they want to change things before they even really, officially become a Canadian,” he continued.
“I have no sympathy for her and I hope that, you know, it’s going to be challenged by our government if it isn’t already.”
At the heart of the debate — the “her” Miller referred to in his comments Monday — is Zunera Ishaq, a Toronto resident who moved from Pakistan to Canada in 2008 and who launched a Charter challenge against the government after she was unable to take the oath citizenship while wearing a niqab.
Response after Miller’s diatribe was swift, and so was his apology — possibly directed, with a slap on the wrist, from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“I stand by my view that anyone being sworn in as a new citizen of our country must uncover their face,” said Miller in a statement released Tuesday morning.
“However, I apologize for and retract my comments that went beyond this.”
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The whole issue would likely have been a non-issue if not for a few things. Last month in Quebec, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called face veils during the citizenship oath “offensive.” Harper doubled down on those words in the House of Commons last week.
“Why would Canadians, contrary to our own values,” he said, “embrace a practice at that time that is not transparent, that is not open and, frankly, is rooted in a culture that is anti-women?”
Those comments brought out a storm on Twitter, with the #dresscodePM hashtag criticizing the prime minister, and asking him mockingly if what they wear is up to his sartorial standards. Ishaq herself penned a few words in the Toronto Star Monday to explain her position:
If [the prime minister] had bothered to ask me why I wear a niqab instead of making assumptions, I would have told him that it was a decision I took very seriously.
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I would tell him that aside from the religious aspect, I like how it makes me feel: like people have to look beyond what I look like to get to know me. That I don’t have to worry about my physical appearance and can concentrate on my inner self. That it empowers me in this regard.
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While I recognize that it’s not for everyone, it is for me. To me, the most important Canadian value is the freedom to be the person of my own choosing. To me, that’s more indicative of what it means to be Canadian than what I wear.
