Kudos to the French

French president Nicolas Sarkozy took a courageous step forward on Monday in French legislature. A parliamentary commission is being proposed by French legislators, which would seek to address the growing trend of women wearing burkas in public.

Sarkozy told legislature,

"We cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity...I want to solemnly say that it will not be welcome on our territory."

If approved, the commission could propose legislation aimed at "banning the burka in public if it is found to be degrading to women," said government spokesman Luc Chatel, Friday.

This announcement by Sarkozy should put Canada and the West to shame. Our leaders are so concerned about offending the diverse electorate that they are unwilling to take a stance on issues of equality.

Maybe thats not the only thing holding Canada back. When the government pulls back funding from courts that hear pay equity cases, cuts a massive amount of funding to the Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, and allows for pay inequity in the name of economic stability (Bill C-10), one has to wonder whether they themselves even believe in equality for women. Heck, even the Globe and Mail admits that of the 125 workers who are to receive pay cuts in the coming months, 70% of them are women in female-dominated work areas.

Maybe the simple answer to why Canada is so unwilling to take a stance on women's rights, whether it be subjugation through wearing the burka or a general acceptance of pay inequity, is that Canadian politicians really just don't care about women. Period.