Quebec clarifies ‘burqa ban’: Veils allowed on buses but drivers must see faces first

People in Quebec will still be able to ride the bus, walk around on campus, or take a stroll in a public park with their faces veiled, the provincial government clarified on Tuesday, following the passage of a new law that bans face coverings for public service employees or anyone receiving government services.

Their faces will have to be uncovered, however, any time they’re interacting with a member of the public service, be it a teacher, a doctor, or a bus driver, the provincial justice minister said during a press conference on Tuesday.

This is more lenient than the interpretation Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée offered last week, when she said women would have to keep their faces uncovered for the duration of a bus ride.

“I’m sorry that it wasn’t as clear,” Vallée said on Tuesday in reference to her initial comments on public transport. “Maybe what I’m doing today I should have done the day after we adopted the bill.”

If earlier comments created confusion, “I apologize,” Vallée told a room of reporters, stressing that the law was “not repressive” and that there were no sanctions included in it.

According to Vallée, the law will apply only during interactions between two people — for example when veiled women are boarding a bus in the province and have to show their ID to the driver. Once their identity has been proven and they’ve boarded, however, they’re free to put the face covering back on for the duration of the trip.

If someone refuses to take off their veil, they’ll simply be denied service, Vallée said, adding that many jurisdictions already have ID requirements for public transit, which authorize drivers to refuse entry for people whose identification is unclear.

“We’re not expelling the person, the person simply doesn’t have access. What we want to avoid is people quarrelling on the bus and pushing each other off the bus,” the Justice Minister said.

No one will be denied emergency health care services, even if they refuse to take off their veil, Vallée said.

The law will not apply “when you’re in the extension of the public space,’ she said of areas including public parks, hospital waiting rooms or school hallways.

“For ID and communication purposes, someone in the library must uncover their face when they’re interacting with someone,” she said. “It doesn’t need to be uncovered when they’re walking around or when they’re looking at a document.”

Students will be required to uncover their faces in the classroom when they’re receiving instruction from a teacher, but not when they’re walking in the school’s halls.

“When you’re teaching or training, communication is important,” she explained. “In the corridors, there’s no communication between the teacher and the student.”

Guidelines around religious accommodation requests have yet to be published — the government is giving themselves until the end of June to formulate these.

Over the weekend, about 70 Quebecers protested the bill, covering their faces with scarves, surgical masks and niqabs before entering a subway station.

Municipal leaders in the province have also vocally opposed the bill, with critics saying that Muslim women are its intended targets. Quebec’s government denies the legislation has anything to do with religious symbols.