Niqab debate brings up memories of historical wrongs against British Columbians of Asian descent

by Charlie Smith on October 4th, 2015 at 10:33 AM

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Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe have been making political hay in Quebec about the niqab.

It's a face veil worn by a tiny minority of Muslim women in Canada.

Harper is spending public funds on a court appeal to prevent Zunera Ishaq from wearing the niqab at her citizenship ceremony.

Duceppe favours invoking the notwithstanding clause of the constitution to ensure that the ban is upheld in perpetuity.

This would override any Supreme Court of Canada decision upholding anyone's claim that wearing a niqab falls within their constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Meanwhile, Harper is also seeking to take away the citizenship of Canadian Muslims convicted of terrorism-related crimes.

The number of seats held by the Conservatives and Bloc could add up to a majority in the next Parliament.

Therefore, it's imperative that reporters ask Harper and Duceppe what other measures they might have in mind for Canadian Muslims.

B.C. history fraught with lessons

It's worth noting that discriminatory measures against Asians in B.C. history escalated over time.

The Chinese head tax was originally set at $50 in 1885. It rose to $500 in 1903 before virtually all Chinese immigration was banned in 1923.

Racist legislation requiring that immigrants make a continuous journey to Canada was also amended in the early 20th century. This came after a court ruling allowed 56 South Asian immigrants on the Panama Maru to land in Victoria in 1913.

The new law prevented more than 350 passengers on another vessel, the Komagata Maru, from coming to Vancouver the following year. The ship was sent back to British-ruled India after sitting in Vancouver's harbour for two months.

Japanese Canadians also faced restrictions that were imposed over time, though the most sudden and extreme occurred after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941.

As far back as 1923, non-citizens were banned from obtaining licences to work as pullers on fishing boats. This had a huge impact on first-generation Japanese immigrants.

In the late 1930s, Japanese Canadian fishers lost their licences when fishing districts were changed. And in 1942, they were rounded up from coastal British Columbia and interned in camps in the interior as "enemy aliens".

The following year, the Canadian government sold their property and personal possessions to discourage them from ever returning to the Pacific Coast. Some were sent back to Japan after the end of the Second World War.

People of Asian ancestry were also prohibited from working in B.C. professions for many years.

This video highlights discriminatory measures against Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Nazis repeatedly piled on restrictions

It's not just in Canada where discrimination against minorities escalated over time.

The most extreme example occurred in Nazi Germany where it started with a ban on most Jews working in the civil service. This was imposed in 1933 shortly after Adolf Hitler became chancellor.

The same year, limits were imposed on the number of Jews who could attend German universities.

That was followed by restrictions on how Jewish doctors and lawyers could practise their professions.

Two years later, there was a law prohibiting intermarriage between Jews and other Germans. In addition, German women under 45 could not be employed in Jewish homes. Jews were also stripped of German citizenship. (In August of 2021, new amendments allowed descendents of Nazi victims to qualify for German citizenship. For more information, visit the German Missions in Canada website.)

After the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the Nazis went further, requiring Jews to register property. Jewish lawyers were forbidden to practise entirely. Jewish doctors were only permitted to treat Jewish patients.

In 1938, Jews with non-Jewish first names were required to add the names Israel or Sarah. In addition, a "J" was stamped on passports of German Jews.

Naheed Nenshi wades into the debate

Meanwhile back in Canada, Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi has said it's "disgusting" to talk about banning face veils during Canadian citizenship ceremonies.

He appears to have struck a chord with a tweet (see below) after the minister of multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, accused "people like him" of politicizing the issue.