"aside from the religious aspect, I like how it makes me feel: like people have to look beyond what I look like"
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/comm...-wear-a-niqab-at-my-citizenship-ceremony.html
In her own words, Miss Ishaq said there are two reasons why she wears the niqab.
1) Religion - On the religion point, she and the Taliban are in agreement. On the other hand many other Muslims (e.g. Malala) disagree there is a religious requirement to wear the niqab and don't wear it.
2) She likes it -- On that point I agree with her, Canadians should be legally allow to wear or not wear whatever they want. I like to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses. On the other hand I would never willingly wear a white hood and robe nor a brownshirt.
Your claim was that she said she was required by her religion to wear it. You still haven't produced any evidence, and the sentence fragment you quote doesn't say that. It's very telling that you ignore the rest of her statement in the article you cited:
The Star said:
It’s precisely because I won’t listen to how other people want me to live my life that I wear a niqab. Some of my own family members have asked me to remove it. I have told them that I prefer to think for myself.
That I don’t have to worry about my physical appearance and can concentrate on my inner self. That it empowers me in this regard.
While I recognize that it’s not for everyone, it is for me. To me, the most important Canadian value is the freedom to be the person of my own choosing. To me, that’s more indicative of what it means to be Canadian than what I wear.
I am looking, however, for Mr. Harper to govern according to the law of Canada and not according his own personal preference. That is why I was very happy when the Federal Court ruled in my favour and found that the policy was not in line with the government’s own Citizenship Act.
And now that Mr. Harper is so busy speaking about me in public, I am looking for him to include me in the discussion
Your "two points" are your own utterly spurious inventions.
1) the Taliban, like Harper, believe it is proper for them to force their preferred political and religious correctness on others. They both buttress their claimed 'entitlement' by invoking religious authorities: Harper's mouthpiece Kenney called on the Grand Mufti of Cairo to dictate to a Pakistani about a religion that barely has formal clergy, never mind a hierarchy, and the Taliban use any and every 'authority' especially power, but never the
only one that matters: The individual's conscience and belief. Just like Harper. However, that is the only religious authority our Charter recognizes. As to Ms. Ishaq, any suggestion she believes all should wear it, or worse be required to is entirely your false invention.
2) she doesn't just like it the way you like bubble gum and ball caps. She believes it expresses her personal commitment to the modest life her religion enjoins. That sort of serious attachment to higher values is entirely proper for a solemn oath-taking. Your ballcap is a trivial fashion choice and as inappropriate as bubblegum in such a venue. There is no Charter right to equal clothing, and you'll be counselled to dress befitting the occasion. Coached at the door if need be.
But it is interesting you also mentioned clothing that symbolizes bigotry: I'd be arguing for you, along with the CCLA, if the government was trying to muzzle your peaceful expression of your beliefs and ideas by forbidding either costume. Even if I considered the symbolic dress as bigoted as speech. But first, to stop you, the government would have to pass a law. Which they did not do in this case.
You see in Canada, our values place freedom of belief and freedom of speech above the dictatorial whims of government, particularly when that government is ignoring and breaking their own laws. Which is another issue you continue to duck along with finally providing evidence that Ms. Ishaq wears her veil, as you say, because she must.
