PCB

Yeah its too bad the cut line is not end of October.

Here, I'll try to give you a straight answer. I can't speak for others in this thread, but I don't think the reason some Canadians disapprove of wearing a niqab while reciting the citizenship oath is because they're bigots. I think, as you and others have said, some Canadians are worried about a slippery slope, oppression and Canadian values.  I'll do my best to explain why I don't think we should be concerned about these issues however. And unless the argument progresses to somewhere else, I'll stop responding too because I do think we're spinning our wheels at this point.
 
The slippery slope argument is moot. Wearing a niqab at a citizenship ceremony will not lead to the legalization of beatings in the name of religion because of S.1. in our Charter. That's not a silly answer, it is a legal fact.
 
Oppression, or harm, also is not an issue because this woman has made it very clear she does not feel she is being oppressed and no evidence has been presented in this case to suggest otherwise.; rather, wearing a niqab is part of her religious beliefs.
 
Now, as to the third issue, Canadian values, I can't objectively disprove this argument because values are a subjective thing. But I will say multiculturalism is one of our most important Canadian values and I think multiculturalism councils us to tolerate and accommodate an individual's religious beliefs, like this woman's, even when they are not our own.
 
I've done my best to explain why I don't think these concerns are valid. Because some have these concerns does not make them bigots. I don't think its intuitive to know about clauses like S.1. So I think a lot of blame lies on the politicians for distorting this issue, and others like it, and not talking about it in a substantive way. If politicians talked about things like S.1., I bet fewer Canadians would disapprove of wearing a niqab at citizenship ceremonies. 
 
If someone wants to give me another reason why I should be against this woman wearing a niqab while reciting the citizenship oath, I'll listen. But so far, I haven't heard one that can't be disproved.

Here, I'll try to give you a straight answer. I can't speak for others in this thread, but I don't think the reason some Canadians disapprove of wearing a niqab while reciting the citizenship oath is because they're bigots. I think, as you and others have said, some Canadians are worried about a slippery slope, oppression and Canadian values.  I'll do my best to explain why I don't think we should be concerned about these issues however. And unless the argument progresses to somewhere else, I'll stop responding too because I do think we're spinning our wheels at this point.
 
The slippery slope argument is moot. Wearing a niqab at a citizenship ceremony will not lead to the legalization of beatings in the name of religion because of S.1. in our Charter. That's not a silly answer, it is a legal fact.
 
Oppression, or harm, also is not an issue because this woman has made it very clear she does not feel she is being oppressed and no evidence has been presented in this case to suggest otherwise.; rather, wearing a niqab is part of her religious beliefs.
 
Now, as to the third issue, Canadian values, I can't objectively disprove this argument because values are a subjective thing. But I will say multiculturalism is one of our most important Canadian values and I think multiculturalism councils us to tolerate and accommodate an individual's religious beliefs, like this woman's, even when they are not our own.
 
I've done my best to explain why I don't think these concerns are valid. Because some have these concerns does not make them bigots. I don't think its intuitive to know about clauses like S.1. So I think a lot of blame lies on the politicians for distorting this issue, and others like it, and not talking about it in a substantive way. If politicians talked about things like S.1., I bet fewer Canadians would disapprove of wearing a niqab at citizenship ceremonies. 
 
If someone wants to give me another reason why I should be against this woman wearing a niqab while reciting the citizenship oath, I'll listen. But so far, I haven't heard one that can't be disproved.

I think defining multiculturalism by your personal standards and expectations, which is what you're doing, is antithetical to the the very idea of multiculturalism.

To distinguish between not unveiling at a citizenship ceremony and stoning individuals to death, there is a constitutional provision and an accompanying test. Section 1 of the Charter "guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject to only such reasonable limits prescribed law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." For a charter violation to be saved by Section 1, the law must be promote a sufficiently important objective. I think preventing the murder of individuals is a sufficiently important objective to justify depriving an individual, who argues he has such a right, of their religious right to stone their wives.