Mulcair stays path on niqab
Leaders spar over face coverings at French debate
Given an opportunity to hedge or fudge, Tom Mulcair stuck grimly to his defence of a woman’s right to wear the Islamic veil or niqab during a Canadian citizenship ceremony — though this stance appears to have cost him his lead in the polls and may in the end deny him victory on Oct. 19.
“A prime minister has an obligation to protect all citizens, including minorities,” he told Stephen Harper during a prolonged four-way exchange about the niqab at the Frenchlanguage debate. “What you are doing is unworthy of a prime minister.”
It was a situation in which the NDP leader had no good options, politically, since backing away now on the veil would have made him appear weak and opportunistic. His core argument — that he himself is uncomfortable with the veil and its symbolism but believes it’s a matter for the courts — initially fell short of full-throated avowal for pluralism.
But as the debate progressed Friday night, Mulcair repeatedly accused Harper of manufacturing the issue for purely political reasons. The Conservative leader, for his part, insisted his policy reflects the opinion of the majority of Canadians. Requiring that a person becoming a citizen do so with her face uncovered “reflects our values,” Harper asserted, later adding that no country in the world is more welcoming of immigrants than Canada.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, as he has in the past, stood foursquare against the niqab citizenship-ceremony ban. “We should extend our hand” to newcomers, he said. “Make her feel welcome, respect her choices and defend her individual liberty.”
Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe declared himself wholeheartedly against such accommodation.
This fifth and final federal leaders’ debate, and the second in French, was billed as Mulcair’s last opportunity to “close the deal” with Quebecers, arrest the NDP’s recent slippage in the polls, and prove to voters across Canada that he, not Trudeau, represents the best alternative to Harper’s Conservatives. Based purely on his performance, he may have done that. Mulcair looked relaxed, knew his files, was consistently aggressive, and for the first time in these debates, seemed utterly himself.
Though Mulcair performed solidly in the previous four de- bates, there was a clear sense following Monday’s Munk debate on foreign policy that he had been outshone by both Harper and Trudeau. Because of the NDP leader’s vaunted rhetorical skill in the House of Commons (and his early boast that he’d “mop the floor” with the Liberal leader in these debates), his failure to shine had been all the more notable. He put that question behind him Friday.
Trudeau, by contrast, had a quieter debate than in other recent outings, until the last half hour, when he seemed to catch his stride. His strategy had been to simply restate the case for the Liberal economic platform. Friday he seemed more prepared to mix it up with his opponents on points of principle, rather than aiming his message directly at viewers.
Harper, meantime, had another solid evening in French, defining himself in stark, simple terms as the only option for Quebecers interested in keeping their taxes low and the economy running on an even keel.
But the hot points, as expected, were the niqab and the related issues of cultural accommodation. In the days leading up to Friday’s debate the Conservatives had steadily ratcheted up the rhetoric on this front — announcing deportations of convicted Islamist terrorists, denouncing the wearing of niqabs in citizenship ceremonies and, earlier Friday, unveiling a plan for an RCMP tip-line whereby neighbours might report suspected purveyors of “barbaric cultural practices.” The niqab ban has been overruled by the courts, a move the Conservatives say they will appeal to the Supreme Court. Harper made a final pitch to Quebecers in his closing statement.
Since the day before the first French-language debate on Sept 24, when Mulcair declared himself firmly against the niqab citizenship ban, his support in Quebec has slipped, even as the Conservatives and Bloc, which also has pursued a stridently anti-niqab line, have surged.
Trudeau’s backing in Quebec, perhaps because it was never particularly strong to begin with — the Liberals hold 23.1 per cent support now, the NDP 33 per cent and the Tories 20 per cent, in the aggregate as recorded by ThreeHundredEight.com — has held steady through the past week.
Most polls in recent days show the Conservatives gaining, the Liberals edging ahead marginally and the New Democrats slipping, especially in Quebec, their stronghold.
There is a risk, which has grown daily as the trend has solidified, that so-called “Anybody But Harper” voters will coalesce behind the candidate they feel has the best chance of catching the front-runner. Should that happen, it could result in a sudden lurch away from the NDP, which then might become a self-fulfilling prophesy. It remains to be seen what effect last night’s contest will have, if any, on this dynamic.