Abstract
This paper analyzes the decision of the federal court of Canada in Zunera Ishaq v. Canada (The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) 2015 FC 156. In this decision, the federal court considered the duty of citizenship candidates to remove their niqab (a veil worn by Muslim women) when they were taking the oath. Ishaq’s case includes important matters for multiculturalism, such as acceptance of religious minority’s practice. It also presents the serious problem of immigration laws about naturalization and their government practice. Therefore, examining the decision is useful to understand more deeply the immigrant nation Canada where multiculturalism is national policy.
At first, I introduce the process of naturalization in Canada. Next, I examine the decision in detail, and show the movement of the political section around this decision. Then, I discuss the constitutional issues therein. Specifically, they are the relations between wearing the niqab and the scope of the protection of freedom of religion by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, between “reasonable accommodation” and religious freedom, and between the wearing of a religious symbol in public places and the freedom of religion. I also mention the precedents of the Supreme Court about wearing the niqab.
Through the discussion above, this paper reveals the recent trends in the immigration laws of Canada although it is limited to the matters of naturalization.
