Twitter users ridicule Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper provoked a flurry of social media responses when he stated in the House of Commons yesterday that the niqab (a face veil used by some Muslim women) was "anti-women." The Conservative government recently moved to appeal a court ruling that upheld a Muslim Canadian woman's right to wear the niqab at her citizenship ceremony. 

 

The Conservative government has criticized the use of niqabs while taking the oath, saying it's "not the way we do things here" on its party website.

 

But Harper himself was a target of criticism over policies that undermine women in Canada, after his party axed funding for women's groups in 2010 and cut the Status of Women budget by nearly 40 per cent in 2006. He also repeatedly refused an inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women, despite strong UN recommendations to launch an investigation. 

 

People tweeted at the Prime Minister under the hashtag #dresscodePM for his comments on what kind of clothing he considered oppressive to women. 
 

Some examples below: 


With files from Sindhu Dharmarajah