Celine Dion did an interview with the Canadian magazine MacCleans and was asked, as someone who has been called Quebec’s greatest ambassador, what she thinks about the province’s new proposed charter of values, which would forbid veils and turbans.
“It’s a very delicate question to answer because I’ll hurt some people and please others but you have to have an opinion. For me, it’s not about the veil — it’s beyond that. I’m not against what people wear but if you go to the hospital, and you are in Quebec and we have embraced you and opened our country for you to live in a better world, you have to adapt to our rules. If the doctor is a boy or a girl, you’re gonna see the doctor that [is] sent to [treat] you. You can’t just say, “My religion doesn’t permit me to see a woman or a male doctor.” That’s the problem for me. If I’m going to see a doctor and he is gay, I’m not going to have a problem with that. It should not be an issue. … It’s just that these women who practice the things they believe in have to adapt to our country. They have to not change our laws. Because you have a lot of Anglican or veiled women in a school—you can’t just take off the [Catholic] cross from the walls, or take down Christmas trees. If I go live in their country and have to be veiled, I will.”
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Amnesty International, as well as the province’s own Human Rights Commission, criticized Quebec for including in its charter of values a ban on public employees wearing the Islamic face-covering veil, such as the hijab, as well as turbans. The 600,000 public employees affected include medical professionals, educators and day care workers, among others. Amnesty pointed out that it would limit women’s rights, as some women will opt not to work at all if they cannot wear their religious garments.
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