The Globe should address the main point of controversy that they have consistently and purposefully ignored: the implications of assertive Islamism (or political Islam) in Canada.  Attempting to appease or accommodate this belief system has resulted in social division, segregation, and parallel societies in Europe where regressive ideas of modesty and misogyny are defended by fundamentalists under the guise of cultural relativism. Even in Canada, we see private schools teaching kids that boys and girls are forbidden from physical contact - how does this encourage social cohesion? The point is that face coverings and the belief system it is associated with have absolutely nothing to do with cultural relativism or religious freedom - gender equality is a function of progress, full stop.