Racism? But Islam is not a race - in fact, it is hard to tell the race of a woman wearing a niqab

Most people accept the religion of their parents, but ultimately we can choose which religion we adhere to, if any. A small minority of Muslims, mostly from the middle east, have come to believe that a Niqab or Burka is good or even required - but the vast majority of Muslims don't, and this certainly was not a practice in Muslim countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia or Malaysia until very recently because Saudi Arabian money has been used to promote the idea that women must cover their faces

Sikh men are required to cover their hair and carry a kirpan - though a few do not observe this, it is very clearly a hardship to prevent this practice where safety is not an issue. The Niqab is a choice based on an extreme interpretation of what constitutes "modesty".

Any cultural practice which requires members of one sex to cover their face in the presence of only the other sex is not Canadian