The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that under certain circumstances a woman may wear a Niqab (a veil which hides her face) while testifying in court. Some women in Canada wear the veil as a profession of their faith, Islam, and refuse to participate in Canadian society without it.
This decision is completely wrong and needs to be reversed immediately because there are no circumstances in which a woman testifying in court should be allowed to hide her face.
None.
Allowing a woman who is giving testimony to hide her face is a gross violation of one of the most basic, fundamental rights an accused person living in a free country has...the right to confront their accuser or anyone testifying against them in a court of law. There is no way an accused can confront their accuser or anyone testifying against them if those people are hiding behind a veil, if their faces are hidden behind a mask. The decision means that an accused right to a fair trial no longer exists in Canada and that one of the most basic, fundamental rights Canadians had has just been taken away.
It also means that Islam and Islamic practice have become factors in Canadian courts and that courts in Canada can no longer be seen as secular, impartial and free from bias, as they should be.
Because they aren’t any more.
It goes without saying that religion should not be allowed to intrude in the courts in a free, democratic, secular, pluralistic society and that the courts become compromised the minute it does because justice is no longer blind and therefore cannot be served in them.
Islam has just been allowed to intrude in Canadian courts and justice can no longer be served in them as a result.
Don’t think that Islamists will stop with this decision in their ongoing efforts to Islamize the country either. They won’t. Islam being Islam and Islamists being Islamists there will be many more demands to accommodate Islam and Islamic practice at the expense of Canadian values, practices, institutions and laws, at the expense of Canadian freedom, democracy, secularism and pluralism. The decision will encourage Islamists in their efforts to transform Canadian society and will lead to more attacks on Canada and Canadians.
In fact, it opens the door to them doing exactly that.
The Supreme Court said that judges have to consider the strength of a person’s religious belief when deciding whether or not to permit them to testify while veiled. Extrapolate that to daily life. That means that Islamists will be free to practice their religion if they can demonstrate that their belief is strong enough, even if that practice contravenes Canadian values, freedom and law...it means that the door to establishing Sharia with all of its abominations and horrors has just been opened wide...it means that the door to making Islam dominant in Canada has just been opened wide.
After all, if the strength of a persons religious beliefs is a determining factor in the courts why shouldn’t it be a determining factor everywhere else too? Why shouldn’t it be a determining factor in allowing any behaviour (or curbing any behaviour for that matter) in any sphere? That is a point Islamists will seize upon...make no mistake, the Supreme Court’s decision will go far beyond the courts and will be used to justify all manner of abominations and horrors, Sharia included.
You can talk about safeguards all you want but they don’t mean a thing and won’t mean a thing, as the courts will quickly find out.
The Supreme Court’s decision is wrong alright. It is also abominable and suicidal and Canadians simply shouldn’t stand for it.
Jerry Philipson
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
