'Barbaric cultural practices' bill all about politics, Elizabeth May says

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is striking out at the government over its "zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices" legislation, saying the proposed bill makes few real changes to the law and is more of a "bumper sticker" designed to rally Conservative base supporters.

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The government has called the proposed law the "Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act." It would make it illegal for anyone under 16 to get married. It would also explicitly require consent for marriage, block anyone in a polygamist relationship from immigrating to Canada and allow for a peace bond to prevent someone from participating in forced or child marriage.

The law would also make it illegal for someone to remove a child or non-consenting adult from Canada to have that person married.

In an interview on CBC News Network's Power & Politics, May says the legislation is fine, although it mostly aims to "make illegal things that are already illegal," like polygamy and kidnapping.

"The problem with the bill is the bumper-sticker title. Zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices? I think it's to fan the flames of a Conservative base that's disillusioned with the lack of ethics of the prime minister. So they're trying to rally round their base by saying we're here to stand against barbaric cultural practices," May told the CBC's Rosemary Barton.

"People won't know what's in the bill. Goodness only knows how they'll fill in the blank of what they think a barbaric cultural practice is. I think it's appalling."

Other critics have noted the offences listed in the proposed legislation, known as bill S-7, are already covered by the existing Criminal Code.

'Wasting our money' on niqab appeal

A few measures in bill S-7 tackle activities that aren't already illegal, and May noted she agrees with those changes.

May also criticized the Conservatives' appeal of a Federal Court decision that would let citizenship judges allow niqabs during citizenship ceremonies. May said if a woman in a niqab is prepared to prove her identity in private with a female official, that is sufficient.

"I'm with the Federal Court on this. And I think Harper's frankly wasting our money once again on an appeal that the federal government will lose."

May said the debate over the niqab, a veil that covers most of a woman's face, "creates a very hostile, emotionally charged and difficult environment" that makes it harder to work together to prevent radicalization.

One MP is suggesting Canadians study the issue more deeply, however.

New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice told Radio-Canada on Thursday that he's opposed to face veils, but that it's not up to him as a legislator to decide what women wear or how they express their faiths.

"It creates a barrier, a distance," he said in French.

Boulerice said Canada should have a debate about the place of religion in society similar to the one conducted by the Bouchard-Taylor Commission in Quebec.

Sociologist Gérard Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor heard from hundreds of Quebecers through reports, focus groups and testimony, and released a 300-page report in 2008 discussing the effects of religious accommodation in Quebec.