MONTREAL—Muslim women will need to uncover their faces from now on if they want to deal with the Quebec government, according to landmark legislation tabled Wednesday in the province.

In tabling such a bill, Quebec has delved into sensitive territory where governments in Canada have largely avoided treading.

The bill says people obtaining — or delivering — services at places like the health- or auto-insurance boards will need to do so with their faces in plain view.

It says people’s face-coverings will not be tolerated if they hinder communication or visual identification.

Premier Jean Charest told a news conference that the province was drawing a line in the sand in defence of two principles: gender equality, and secular public institutions.

“This is a symbol of affirmation and respect — first of all, for ourselves, and also for those to whom we open our arms,” Charest told a news conference.

“This is not about making our home less welcoming, but about stressing the values that unite us. . .

“An accommodation cannot be granted unless it respects the principle of equality between men and women, and the religious neutrality of the state.”

While the debate over such identity issues has raged in Europe for years, and played out around countless dinner tables and Internet chat boards, Canadian politicians have generally been reluctant to weigh in.

Quebec has been an exception to that rule.

The Charest government has actually faced persistent criticism in the legislature from opponents who say it must take a tougher stand against minorities’ demands for accommodation.

Newspapers have been full of stories about perceived religious excesses, and such discussions are a near-daily feature on some of the province’s television talk shows.

On Wednesday alone, a newspaper and talk radio reported on a mostly Jewish youth hockey team that had arranged to switch tournament schedules with another squad to accommodate the Passover. Their request was denied.

The opposition has been clobbering the government in the legislature over its supposed caving in to Jewish schools, having allowed them to stay open on weekends.

One Muslim group argued Wednesday that Quebec’s political oxygen was being unnecessarily sucked up by debate over a microscopic number of cases.

The Muslim Council of Montreal says there may be only around 25 Muslims in Quebec who actually wear face-coverings.

Of the more than 118,000 visitors to the health board’s Montreal office in 2008-09 only 10 people — or less than 0.00009 per cent of cases — involved niqab-wearers who asked for special dispensation.

There were zero such cases among the 28,000 visitors to the Quebec City service centre over the same time period.

Though the law makes no overt reference to any particular religion, Muslim leaders say it’s hard not to feel singled out.

Salam Elmenyawi of the MCM questioned the need to legislate against such a small minority of the population.

“It is a knee-jerk reaction to the opposition and vote-grabbing more than anything else,” he said, adding the law was unlikely to encourage integration of Muslim immigrants.

The so-called reasonable accommodations debate prompted Charest to call a public inquiry in 2007.

That inquiry pointed out one lingering inconsistency in the argument of those who claim to be defenders of a secular state: the giant crucifix that still hangs on the wall of the provincial legislature.

Wednesday’s bill was silent on the Bouchard-Taylor commission’s recommendation that the crucifix also be removed.