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Quebec justice minister defends new face-covering law, to release guidelines this week

Quebec's justice minister is expected to make public this week the guidelines for how Bill 62 will be applied as law, a document that wasn't supposed to be ready until next summer.

Stéphanie Vallée said it's necessary to do so because things have "escalated" in the past few days. She is appealling for calm and wants to "properly communicate and explain" the law to the population .

The bill was passed as law last week. It requires people to show their faces when they give or receive public services.

Vallée said she was surprised by Canadians' reactions since it was passed. Many have expressed staunch opposition, saying it's a thinly veiled target of Muslim women who wear niqabs, is discriminatory and could encourage harassment.

Despite that, Vallée defends the law championed by the provincial Liberal government, saying her government outlined its position on the matter long ago, and that the debate surrounding face coverings and religious garb has been going on in Quebec for the past decade.

"It's a principle parliamentarians in the National Assembly agree on," Vallée said.

"So, I have to admit the interpretation of it is particular because we took care throughout the bill to preserve a balance and, especially, to preserve individual freedoms."

According to an Angus Reid poll published Oct. 4, 87 per cent of Quebecers support the legislation.

The law outlines that all public services, including public transit and hospitals, shall be given and received with uncovered faces.

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It allows for reasonable accommodations, granted on a case-by-case basis, and isn't coercive, so it doesn't include any penalty when not complied with.

Rules will outline where, when, how law applies

The rules for applying the law are expected to be published Monday or Tuesday, according to the minister, and will outline where, when and how people are expected to uncover their face.

What to do about reasonable accommodations will come later.

Vallée believes the law makes Quebec a pioneer in creating guidelines around how government workers should deal with identifying people with face coverings before providing the services offered to them — by outlawing the coverings.

It's unclear how municipalities are supposed to deal with the law, if it applies to them at all and if certain agencies can receive an exemption.

Though Vallée says it's all in the soon-to-be-released guidelines, she says the law would be useful for municipalities.

She gives Gatineau as an example. The Quebec city in the Ottawa valley has issued an identification card with a photo that grants special pricing for municipal services.

"Because the municipality made that choice, it's certain that it will be perfectly reasonable to ask the person to identify themselves as it's done in the electoral law, to ensure that it is the right person who has the right to public services," Vallée said.

Quebec prepared to defend law 'tooth and nail'

In Quebec provincial elections, since 2007, electors must vote without wearing face coverings. But Elections Canada allows voting in federal elections with face coverings.

She attributes criticisms of the law by Ontario and Alberta's premiers to Quebec dabbling in "droit nouveau," or new law in English, saying Quebec is just ahead of the curve.

Vallée says her government is prepared to defend the legislation "tooth and nail," if it were to be federally challenged as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has hinted it could.