Niqab-wearing woman expelled from language class
Naema Atef Amed, a Muslim woman living in Quebec, has been kicked out of a government-sponsored French class for the second time for refusing to take off her niqab, a religious face covering.
“Why is the government doing this? I wonder if they have other things to do in life other than following this woman,” said Samer Majzoub, head of the Canadian Muslim Forum.
Luc Fortin, a spokesperson for Quebec immigration minister Yolande James, said, “As we did last time, we told her that we have pedagogical objectives to meet in our French immersion courses, that they have to be taken with her face exposed. She refused to take off her niqab and she left the course.”
After the first incident, Amed filed a complaint with the Quebec human rights commission. “She’s devastated. She was insisting on being part of Quebec society,” said Majzoub.—Mekkhala Gunaratne
Source: CBC
Racist vandalism at Queen’s
Just after a March 4 walk against racism with members of the Queen’s and Kingston communities, three cars in the An Clachan residence parking lot at Queen’s were vandalized. Two cars had “nigger” scrawled on them and another had “Jew” written on it.
In another incident, a female student in a campus library was subject to derogatory remarks about her faith and culture. Queen’s would not comment on whether the incident involved student council president-elect Sofiah Chowdhury. Chowdhury posted on a social networking site that someone called her head covering a “Taliban turban of terror” while she was at the library.
“Racist actions and attitudes have no place at this university, where we have an obligation and opportunity to educate one another to overcome stereotypes and prejudices,” reads a statement from Queen’s principal Daniel Woolf and VP academics Patrick Deane. They encouraged students with information to contact campus security and those needing support to contact the human rights office.—MG
Source: Queen’s News Release, The Whig-Standard
Campaign posters defaced at U Calgary
Hana Kadri and Ola Mohajer, both students running for positions on the University of Calgary’s student union, found their campaign posters defaced last week. An image of a swastika was drawn on the forehead of Kadri’s photo and an arrow pointing to her hijab was drawn with a note reading: “This is a hate crime.”
“Honestly, I did expect a level of vandalism, because it comes with the territory [of an election]. But I was very shocked when I saw it,” said Kadri.
School officials reported that the perpetrators have not yet been caught. “We’ve seen this in the past. It’s not a new thing,” said Lanny Fritz, campus security director. A spokesperson for the university said, “Any incident reflecting a lack of tolerance is simply not acceptable at the university. We like to celebrate our diversity.”—MG
Source: Calgary Herald
Saskatchewan student union proposes microbrewery
The University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union is examining the feasibility of running a microbrewery on campus, likely as an extension of the campus pub. The goal is to have student-brewed quality beer, said student union president Warren Kirkland.
Kirkland said the brewery would create student employment and that it may also be academically enriching for students to see the entire brewing process, since aspects of brewing are discussed in some courses.
Administrators say that they are open to new ideas from students. Once the official proposal has been received, they will have to assess the effect of a microbrewery on campus environment before approving the plan.
With nearly 20,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff at the university, Kirkland says that they may also have the market to open an off-sale liquor business.—Kimberly Shek
Source: The Star-Pheonix
