The Politics of Islam in Contemporary Canada

Abstract

Harper was responding to a Federal Court decision from January 2015, put forward by Zunera Ishaq, a then-permanent resident from Pakistan vying for Canadian citizenship, who challenged and effectively overturned the Conservative government’s 2011 niqab ban during citizenship ceremonies.2 What followed Harper’s speech in the House of Commons was the most heavily publicized single-issue controversy in Canadian politics in recent memory as the niqab took center-stage throughout the federal election campaign of 2015.3 Commenting on Harper’s speech, Justin Trudeau, then-leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, spoke in Toronto in response to the proposed niqab ban, stating: