CAQ takes issue with RCMP's decision to allow Muslim women to wear hijab

A week after coming outagainst burkini swimsuits, the Coalition AvenirQubec has now taken issue withpolice officers wearing the hijab.

Quebec's right-leaning party took the stance in reaction to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's announcement Tuesdaythat it would allow its officers to wear a head scarf if they want.

The RCMP said Wednesdaythe new policy aims to better reflectdiversity in Canadian communities and to encourage more Muslim women to consider the RCMP as a career option.

CAQ MNA Nathalie Roy disagreedwith that position, saying "the Islamic veil only serves to subjugate women and should therefore be banned from the police uniform."

It isn't known how many, if any, women Mounties now wear thehijab.

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Roy went on further to say thathijabs, likeburkinis,are accessories of radical Islamand shouldn't be part of a police department's uniform.

The general principle is that those who represent the authority of the state, primarily the police, should refrain from wearing any religious symbol, Roy said, which falls in line with the CAQ'sunyielding position of religious neutrality in the state.

After Toronto and Edmonton, the RCMPis now the third Canadian police service to have such a policy, though they have allowed allowed members of the Sikh religionto wear a turban since the early 1990s.

Internationally, police services in the United Kingdom, Sweden and some U.S. states also have similar policies allowing officers to wear head scarves.

Position on burkini's softening

Roy alsoinitially came out stronglyagainst theburkini aswimsuit thatcovers the legs, arms and torso and also includes a veil.

"AcceptingBurkini is to admit that the female body is an object of temptation," she said a week ago.

Now, Roy has somewhat softened her stance, saying that formally prohibiting the body-covering swimwear would be difficult to enforce and would go against Quebec's Charter of Rights.

QuebecJustice Minister Stphanie Vallehas said, in reference to burkinis, thatwomen have the right to dress the way they choose.

"People have the right to their beliefs and can dress how they want," said Valle, adding that includesthose who dress "a bit more shockingly as well."

Vallesaid she doesn't believe burkinis whose name combines 'burka' and 'bikini' are common in Quebec.

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