Controversy over face-covering niqab exposes rift in federal NDP caucus.

Alexandre Boulerice, one of the party’s most prominent Quebec MPs, says he doesn’t believe public servants should be allowed to cover their faces.

And he wants to create a national commission, along the lines of Quebec’s Bouchard-Taylor commission, to seek consensus on how far the country should go to accommodate religious and cultural practices.

But Winnipeg NDP MP Pat Martin says he doesn’t care if public servants wear a paper bag on their head.

Paul Dewar, whose central Ottawa riding is home to many federal civil servants, says Boulerice seems to be trying to resolve a problem that doesn’t exist.

He says he’s never had a complaint about public servants wearing face-covering garments.

Agencies/Canadajournal