Universities hesitant to apply Bill 62 legislation

Universities and CEGEPs in Montreal appear reticent to apply provisions of Bill 62 that would prevent students from wearing veils that cover their faces in classrooms.

Students will have to have their faces uncovered because communication with instructors is required to enable learning, Justice Minister Stéphanie Vallée clarified on Tuesday.

Educational institutions, however, do not appear altogether comfortable with this directive.

McGill spokesperson Justin Dupuis said the university “has an obligation to accommodate religious differences and will continue to do so.”

Fatima Ahmad, a 21-yearold McGill student, says wearing the niqab has not been an issue with her peers or professors.

“For exams I take it off so I can be identified — it’s not a problem,” she said.

Ahmad believes that she is the only McGill student to wear the niqab.

According to Jean-Marie Lafortune, Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université president, forcing professors to act as law enforcement and kick students with face coverings out of their classes would be a violation of academic liberty.

He added that professors have the freedom to decide if their classes or laboratories offer a good environment for the transmission of knowledge.

Only a handful of students in Montreal wear veils that cover their faces, Lafortune noted, accusing the provincial government of imposing a law to address a “rare phenomenon.”

Contacted by the Presse Canadienne, Montreal’s four major universities and seven CEGEPs said they were waiting for specific instructions from the province before commenting.