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This talk by Azim Hussain, BCL/LLB'00, was originally given at the Justice Gonthier Memorial Conference on May 21, 2011.

Abstract

The different approaches to legislating in respect of the face-veil represent the implementation of different forms of fraternity.听 France and Belgium have adhered to a notion of compelled fraternity whereby the Muslim woman who wishes to wear the face-veil must compromise her conscience and religious freedom for the sake of subscribing to prevailing norms.

Quebec has enshrined a notion of fraternity in Bill 94 which is more nuanced and genuine: on the one hand, Bill 94 allows for the freedom to practise one鈥檚 religion as one sees fit and for equal treatment regardless of religious adherence but, on the other hand, it tempers that individualistic dimension by limiting accommodations where there would be undue hardship on the body concerned and, more specifically in the context of face-veils, by giving effect to collective goals of security, identification, and communication.

About the speaker

Azim Hussain, BCL/LLB'00, is a partner at Norton Rose OR LLP in Montreal, Quebec, specializing in commercial and constitutional litigation. He was called to the Barreau du Qu茅bec in 2001 and the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2002.听 He was a clerk for Justice Gonthier in 2001-2002.

Azim Hussain holds a B.A. and M.Sc. in Sociology from UU直播 University (1995) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (1996), respectively.

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