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“It’s classic wedge politics” that distinguishes the Conservatives from the other parties, said Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo. Even if it turns out to be a losing issue legally, it may be a winning issue politically.

“This plays well with the Conservative base. Despite the party’s success with new immigrants and ethnic communities … and spearheading connections to those communities, a lot of the base still has a view that minority cultures have inappropriate practices.”

Various polls have shown that a strong majority of Canadians agree people should show their faces during citizenship ceremonies.

“It is a common-sense view … and has resounding support in Canada,” said Salim Mansur, a political science professor at Western University in London, Ont.

The policy was introduced in December 2011 and is grounded in the belief citizenship applicants must be seen to be saying the oath. Those who refuse to remove facial coverings will not receive their citizenship.

Ishaq, a devout Sunni from Pakistan, now living in Mississauga, Ont., is a permanent resident who has passed her citizenship test. While she has no problem unveiling herself in a private room to confirm her identity, she is unwilling to remove her face covering during the public citizenship ceremony.

This year, a Federal Court judge agreed the policy was unlawful on administrative grounds in that it interfered with a citizenship judge’s “duty to allow candidates for citizenship the greatest possible freedom in the religious solemnization or the solemn affirmation of the oath.”