February 2026
In one day, in two different cities, I saw two burka-clad women. This is on top of the numerous Muslim women I see more and more frequently wearing a hijab. I’m a fiscal conservative, but socially liberal on a lot of issues, even libertarian to a degree, so it doesn’t bother me that much to see a hijabi-wearing woman. Immigrants to Canada, and North America for that matter, should do more to assimilate. Sure, you can still maintain your cultural identity, for example, wearing your cultural clothing and eating your cultural food, etc.
However, I feel immigrants should leave the negative aspects of their former homeland back in their former homeland. Sadly, more and more immigrants seem to be bringing their old-world hatreds with them to their adopted countries.
Getting back to burka and hijabi-wearing Muslim women, I’m strongly against the burka, which is a medieval torture device, but while the hijab is a cultural item, not a religious one, I don’t object to women wearing them, as long as they are wearing it willingly.
Now, in this case, I’m using “willingly” in the broad sense, because observant Muslim women may feel they have to wear a hijab, even though, as I said, it’s not a religious requirement. I used to be against the hijab, as women in strict Muslim countries, like Iran, can be beaten, tortured, jailed or killed, for not wearing a hijab properly, or at all.
Sure, other religions require the wearing of hair-coverings, like Orthodox Jewish women, and baptized Sikh men, but to my knowledge, none of them will face jailing and/or death, for not covering their hair. A Muslim father in Kingston, Ontario, murdered his three daughters in 2009, simply because they wanted to dress “western.” Like a lot of teenagers, they wanted to dress like their western friends at school, instead of dressing like the “weirdos” in the “weird” clothing.
Am I being too liberal, or even capitulating, to what some conspiracy theorists might call a Muslim invasion, for accepting hijabi-wearing women? There has already been a push by some Muslims in Canada to enact Sharia for Muslims living here, something which is completely against our liberal democracy. How much should we allow our North American culture to be so dramatically altered before it’s too late?
Sources: Without Honour: The True Story of the Shafia Family and the Kingston Canal Murders | National Post.
