Blaney reopens niqab debate
OTTAWA — New Conservative leadership candidate Steven Blaney is promising to test all would-be citizens to preserve “Canadian identity,” force people to show their faces at voting stations and citizenship ceremonies, and forbid federal public servants from wearing face coverings at work.
The former minister of public safety and emergency preparedness says he would, if necessary, use the notwithstanding clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms if his proposed reforms were challenged in the courts.
The Quebec MP is the latest to jump into a race that is expected to attract more than a dozen contenders and — like fellow hopeful Kellie Leitch — he is putting a big emphasis on contentious identity politics. He’s also reopening the divisive niqab debate.
“We have a Canadian way of living, the rule of law, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and our laws. My proposal this morning is to preserve our Canadian identity and especially toward those who are building Canada of tomorrow, including new Canadians,” Blaney said Monday.
“It is critical that we make sure that new Canadians fully endorse the Canadian principles that are the foundation of our society.”
This includes significant changes to Canada’s “integration model” to improve security and uphold “fundamental principles.”
Blaney would boost funding to security agencies like the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency to significantly expand screening for potential national security threats.
He would strengthen the citizenship test so applicants are more sufficiently tested on written and oral skills in English and French, and “their understanding and appreciation of Canada’s core principles.” The oath of citizenship test would be modified to ensure newcomers abide by those principles.
He’s also pledging to introduce legislation that would require citizens to vote with uncovered faces, ban newcomers from concealing their faces at citizenship ceremonies and forbid federal public servants from wearing any sort of face covering while at work.
Blaney appears to be taking a page out of the playbook of Leitch, who has focused her campaign on Canadian values.
Leitch has proposed screening all immigrants, refugees and visitors for “anti-Canadian values,” a move that has drawn scorn from some fellow leadership candidates as “un-Canadian” and “dog-whistle politics.”
Blaney is also trying to reopen the divisive debate about face coverings.
He was public safety minister in the Conservative government that tried to ban the niqab at citizenship ceremonies, an issue that became a flashpoint during last year’s federal election.
This was after the Harper government said it would fight all the way to the Supreme Court the Federal Court of Appeal ruling that banning the face covering at citizenship ceremonies was illegal.
The new Liberal government quickly announced it was dropping legal action.
Yet, Blaney said the discussion on Canadian identity and values is clearly gaining traction in the Conservative party and across the country — and is something that has played well in Quebec. He is the second Quebec MP in the race, joining Maxime Bernier.
“We’ve seen it now for years in Quebec, and Quebec has played a leadership role in discussing those issues in an open manner,” he said.
“I believe we are ready in Canada for a robust and mature and serene conversation about our Canadian identity.”
Leadership candidate Deepak Obhrai quickly criticized Blaney for his proposal to ban the niqab. “My campaign is based on inclusiveness and embracing diversity,” Obhrai said on Twitter.
Also Monday, fellow leadership contender Michael Chong released his platform on democratic reform, promising more “power to the people” through various changes. These include:
• Eliminating the veto of political party leaders over candidates and ensuring candidates selected to run in an election are approved in their ridings;
• Reforming political parties by making membership free and mandating public registration for membership;
• Introducing legislation to create an independent Commission on Party Leader Debates to organize and establish rules for these debates during general election campaigns; Having House of Commons committee members and chairmen elected by secret ballot, including the proposed national security and intelligence committee;
• Reforming question period in the Commons, including requiring ministers respond to questions asked of them and providing more freedom for MPs to ask questions on their own;
• Electing the Senate speaker and government leader, removing the prime minister’s power to appoint the positions.