The Journal’s Lise Ravary wrote a piece Thursday under the scare headline Abus de fillettes à la CSDM. The school commission had rented some space to a Muslim group for a ceremony for girls in which they celebrate beginning to wear the hijab – a classic coming-of-age type thing.
But Ravary’s ploy paid off, and the CSDM cancelled the rental. At the same time, a similar ceremony in Laval was cancelled after knowledge of it was circulated on far-right Facebook groups and the venue shut it down.
Interestingly, if you look up Lise Ravary, you find out she was born in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and educated by the nuns – religious women in headscarves – and I bet she wore a veil herself for first communion and other rituals – but she seems to think she turned out OK. As a spokeswoman for the Muslim group is quoted by CBC: “It’s like when you baptize a child. It’s a beautiful ceremony, but you don’t say the child will be forced to do something for the rest of their life.”
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