Canada: European States

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Dept: It's an issue which has become highly sensitive in other countries as well, particularly in some European states like France where the government recently passed legislation prohibiting the wearing of veils by women under certain circumstances, even going so far as to levy fines on violators, according to Vancouver Sun. However, how non-Muslims them-selves are being treated far removed from Canada is becoming a growing concern and one of the increasing challenges in Canada is to try to agree on how far Canadians should be expected to go in order to meet the religious and cultural needs of non-Christians, especially Muslims. In Canada, the issue has ranged from whether Muslim women should be permitted to cover their faces during court cases to controversies over allowing public institutions, including schools, to provide space for Muslims to pray. Recently, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney imposed regulations prohibiting immigrants taking the oath of allegiance at citizenship ceremonies from covering their faces. In most respects, resolving such matters has been done through peaceful means, even though solutions might not always resolve differences between Muslims and non-Muslims. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.