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Criticisms arise as first veiled woman to run in Quebec elections 2018

Candidate Eve Torres poses in this undated handout photo. The divisive debate in Quebec about the clothes Muslim women choose to wear is back in the spotlight less than six months before the fall provincial election. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante suggested last week she was open to city police officers wearing a Sikh turban or an Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab, as part of the official uniform -- a practice not uncommon in Canada outside Quebec. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

The debate in Quebec about the clothes Muslim women choose to wear is back in the spotlight — less than six months before the fall provincial election.

READ MORE: City councillor wants Montreal police force to allow turbans and hijabs

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante suggested last week she is open to city police officers wearing a turban or a hijab as part of the uniform.

READ MORE: Quebec judge who refused to hear woman in hijab loses appeal to quash investigation

Around the same time, Eve Torres, a 44-year-old Muslim mother of three who wears a hijab, said she is seeking the nomination in a Montreal-area riding for Quebec Solidaire, the legislature’s most left-leaning party.

WATCH BELOW: Montreal woman barred from wearing hijab in courtroom

Torres is so far unopposed and is being billed as the first veiled woman to run in a Quebec provincial election and that has led to some heated criticism.

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READ MORE: Hijab-wearing student prevented from taking exam for refusing to show ears

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A column by Denise Bombardier in Le Journal de Montréal includes a photo of a veiled Torres under the headline, “Our dark future.”

READ MORE: RCMP OKs hijabs for its female officers

Fellow columnist Mathieu Bock-Cote, and another writer for Le Journal, Lise Ravary, suggested Torres was an “Islamist,” a word that carries a strong connotation of fundamentalism.

WATCH BELOW: Muslim-Canadian woman on battling misconceptions and Islamophobia following the Quebec City shooting

Click to play video: 'Muslim-Canadian woman on battling misconceptions and Islamophobia following the Quebec City shooting'
Muslim-Canadian woman on battling misconceptions and Islamophobia following the Quebec City shooting

Torres, who describes herself as a feminist who is running to fight for “social justice,” told The Canadian Press in an interview that she was expecting the reaction.

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READ MORE: Quebec woman told to remove hijab in court appeals ruling on legal clarification

She says she is not an Islamist, has never been one and doesn’t plan on becoming one.

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