Being an opposition Member of Parliament ought to be easy these days. Sure, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals remain popular, but sunny ways are giving way to storm clouds. Provinces are howling over health care transfers. The CETA free trade deal appears to have collapsed. Democratic reform is going nowhere (by the PM’s own admission). Civil servants are campaigning against the government (again). Economic growth is stagnant. Projected deficits may turn out to be three times the original estimate.

So many juicy avenues of attack. And what are Conservative leadership candidates talking about? Banning niqabs … again.

Yup, it’s the 2015 election, redux. And it’s not just candidates Kellie Leitch and Chris Alexander duking it out over the nebulous concept of ‘Canadian values’: The latest aspirant to the Tory throne, Steven Blaney, launched his campaign Monday by announcing his “comprehensive plan to ensure the sustainability of Canada’s integration model”.

Blaney’s plan includes, according to a press release, modifying the Oath of Citizenship “to ensure the future citizens of this country know and abide by Canada’s core principles, making their integration into Canadian society more successful”. He also wants to reintroduce C-623 — which would force everyone casting a ballot to do so with their faces uncovered — and extend it to apply to employees in federal government offices. And if the courts should find such a law to be unconstitutional (a safe bet), Blaney would go nuclear: “A Conservative government under the leadership of Steven Blaney will not hesitate to use the notwithstanding clause should the Supreme Court oppose the will of Parliament.”

“Uncovering your face is a day-to-day requirement for every Canadian, whether it is to obtain a driver licence or getting a passport for obvious security reasons,” Blaney said. “This same requirement should apply to all those who swear allegiance to our country, vote in-person at a polling station or work within the federal public service.”

With all the low-hanging fruit on the Liberal agenda, the federal Conservative leadership race doesn’t need another distraction. With all the low-hanging fruit on the Liberal agenda, the federal Conservative leadership race doesn’t need another distraction.

Blaney is clearly playing to potential supporters in Quebec, where newly-elected PQ leader Jean Francois Lisée mused about the very same issues during the party’s recent leadership campaign. During the campaign, Lisée, his fellow candidates and Coalition Avenir Québec leader Francois Legault battled over just how many articles of clothing they and their parties would ban in the interests of purifying Quebec. Burka? Burkini? Quebec’s decade-old debate over “reasonable accommodation” is back, with a new fashion-forward wrinkle.

Liberal Premier Philippe Couillard is certainly enjoying the show. When the premier welcomed Lisée to the new job two weeks ago, he immediately pounced on his comments about banning the burka, comparing the PQ leader to far-right politicians in Europe and suggesting he is “bad for humanity”.

“His narrative is one of a beleaguered nationalism,” said Couillard, “a nationalism of fear, of people who don’t want to confront diversity, who prefer that Quebec remains closed in on itself.”

Couillard has a good reason for fanning these flames, of course. The PQ’s decision to resurrect the identity debate offers him a welcome distraction from his government’s ethical lapses and unpopular austerity measures, as his government prepares to contest four byelections and lay the groundwork for the next provincial election in 2018. The Liberals also are conducting hearings on Bill 62 — on whether public servants, and those receiving public services, should have to uncover their faces — and they’re taking criticism both from those who think the bill goes too far in ensuring the secular nature of the state and those who think it doesn’t go far enough.

In the rest of Canada, however, this debate has been largely meaningless since the Tories tumbled from power a year ago this month. Canadians voted against the party that wanted to ban the niqab at citizenship ceremonies and set up a tipline to allow Canadians to report “barbaric practices”. A recent Angus Reid poll found that a majority of Canadians think that “minorities should do more to fit in with mainstream Canadian society.” But that doesn’t mean that they want their government intervening to make it happen, through banning clothing or through other means.

And with all the low-hanging fruit on the Liberal agenda, the federal Conservative leadership race doesn’t need another distraction. Will the next election be fought over identity politics, or the state of health care? Niqab bans or joblessness? The threat of burkinis on the beaches this summer, or the state of Canada’s crumbling infrastructure?

While questions of identity have their place at the Conservative leadership table, it’s a bad idea to allow them to define the entire menu.

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