A potentially thorny bill that would force voters to show their faces when casting ballots in a federal election has been tabled in the House of Commons by a Conservative backbencher.
The Conservatives say the aim of the bill is to increase transparency in elections, but critics say the proposed legislation could ignite a nasty debate over culture, freedom of expression and religion.
Similar legislation drafted in France banned Islamic face-covering garments like the niqab in public places. Quebec has also seen public debate over the practice.
While Immigration Minister Jason Kenney called the Conservative proposal "reasonable" on CTV's Question Period on Sunday, he noted that the government does not want to tell people how to dress.
"I don't think we should be adopting the French idea of banning, telling people what they can and cannot wear," Kenney said.
"I believe in personal liberty, even if I find some expressions of personal liberty a bit peculiar. I don't think we should be regulating what people wear but when a citizen comes to deal with the government, particularly to exercise their right to vote, I think it's entirely reasonable that we say we need to confirm who you are and a facial identification is a reasonable way of doing that."
Quebec MP Steven Blaney introduced the bill on Friday, but he did not present any statistics to suggest that face coverings posed a problem for staff at Elections Canada. In fact, Elections Canada did not report a single face-covering incident during the 2008 federal election.
Blaney declined to say that his bill is inspired by Muslim face-veils. However, he did say that there have been incidents where people have showed up to vote wearing ski masks and disguises.
Still, critics in the NDP and the Liberals have said that the bill is a gambit designed to stir debate over minority rights in Quebec.
The current elections law does not compel voters to show their faces.
