My name is Salah Basalamah and I am here on behalf of Présence musulmane.
Generally speaking, we are not in favour of people wearing the niqab this custom is not rooted in any religious beliefs, but rather reflects a cultural tradition. However, like any democratic person who is respectful of others, we defend a woman's right to wear the niqab. In fact, Muslims who wear the niqab never refuse to comply with legal requirements, whether it be in a voting booth or at a border crossing point, because these are exceptional circumstances and by failing to comply with the law, then run the risk of being charged with an offence.
However, we would like the legislation to remain in effect for four reasons: firstly, because the range of identification measures reflects the State's determination to have the broadest possible cross-section of the population take part in the electoral process; secondly, because applying the provisions of the act enables thousands of individuals to vote by mail without having to identify themselves, and it would be unfortunate to lose that right; thirdly, no Muslim has asked for this special accommodation to be made; and fourthly, because calls for changes to the act are not being made for the right reasons. The psychosocial context in which the debate on reasonable accommodations is unfolding is overly focused on the issue of Muslim women and the wearing of a veil for an exception to be made in the case of the more radical niqab.