Article content

If you don’t have the law, you argue the facts; if you don’t have the facts, you argue the law. Having neither in the niqab debate, the Conservatives have resorted to popular opinion — which is a poor substitute for principle.

This is the box the Conservatives find themselves in on the niqab debate that has consumed so much political oxygen of late.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Michael Spratt: Conservatives have neither the law nor the facts on their side in the niqab debate Back to video

[np_storybar title=”Richard Moon: The government is sure to lose its appeal in the citizenship oath-niqab case. Maybe that’s the point” link=”http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/17/richard-moon-the-government-is-sure-to-lose-its-appeal-in-the-citizenship-oath-niqab-case-maybe-thats-the-point/”]The federal government will lose its appeal in the case of Ishaq v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration — the citizenship oath-niqab case.

Evidence submitted to the court in the original hearing showed that the government was told by its legal advisers that the no-niqab rule was legally defective. No doubt, its legal advisers have now also advised the government that the appeal is unwinnable — although they may have hedged this a little since lawyers are seldom willing to predict the outcome of a case with complete certainty.