Review ordered after veiled women board flight unchecked

[Josh "Spikey00" Y.]

Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and
Communities John Baird speaks during question period in the House of
Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday April 29, 2010. (Sean
Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A controversial YouTube video has prompted the government to examine
whether airlines are applying security measures that require staff to
see passengers' faces before boarding.

Transport Minister John Baird said in a statement issued Sunday that
the regulations are necessary to confirm the identity of travellers and
apply to all passengers, regardless of culture or religion.

The minister ordered the investigation in response to a recent video
posted on YouTube, which shows two veiled women boarding an Air Canada
flight in Montreal last month without being asked to reveal their faces.


In the video, a man travelling with the group hands over their
passports and the women walk through without removing their veils.

"If the reports are true, the situation is deeply disturbing and
poses a serious threat to the security of the air travelling public,"
Baird said.

The video was posted online by a British man, under the title "A
major Canadian airline risks your safety, pandering to Muslim
sensibilities."

It has drawn thousands of viewers, many of whom wrote inflammatory
comments and racial slurs. The video encouraged viewers to contact
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews about the matter, and even published
the minister's office email.

The issue of verifying the identity of Muslim women who wear the
traditional face veils -- niqabs or burkas -- has surfaced several times
in recent years as security concerns take centre stage.

Elections Canada ruled in 2007 that veiled women can cast ballots, despite opposition from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The Conservative government later proposed legislation to reverse
that ruling, but the effort failed to gain support among other parties.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Muslim Congress last year endorsed
legislation that would ban face-covering veils altogether, calling the
veils a symbol of Islamic extremism as well as a security risk.

The debate also rages on abroad, particularly in France, which passed
a law in 2004 prohibiting students and staff from wearing veils and
other religious symbols in state schools.

[Gov]

"calling the veils a symbol of Islamic extremism"

What? Not really. However their identity's should be checked.

[Josh "Spikey00" Y.]

My life was in danger.

[Sponsored content]