OTTAWA – The federal government says it plans to challenge a Federal Court of Appeal decision that quashed its attempts to ban face coverings at citizenship ceremonies.
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has issued a terse, one-line statement saying the government will seek leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Zunera Ishaq, a 29-year-old woman with devout Muslim beliefs who came to Ontario from Pakistan in 2008, refused to take part in a citizenship ceremony because she would have to show her face.
WATCH: (Tue, Sep 15) Zunera Ishaq, the woman at the centre of Tuesday’s appeal, speaks to reporters outside an Ottawa courthouse after a judge decided she could wear the niqab as she took her oath of citizenship.
On Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the government’s appeal of an earlier Federal Court ruling on Ishaq’s case that declared the ban on face coverings at such ceremonies was unlawful.
The three-judge panel ruled from the bench, saying they wanted to proceed quickly so that Ishaq could obtain her citizenship in time to vote in the Oct. 19 federal election.
One of Ishaq’s lawyers, Marlys Edwardh, said the Immigration Department would be contacted this week so she could attend a citizenship ceremony – accompanied by her lawyers “just in case.”
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