Correct me if I’m wrong (be gentle, please), but why does this type of ‘confrontation’ seem to be so much more frequent in French-speaking places? This particular one is happening in Quebec (and there are others there, too) and I’m sure you’ve heard about the similar brouhahas in France. Is this just my imagination or is this type of intolerance genuinely more common in French-speaking areas?
My sense is that among all the more common major languages, French is the most insular. In other words, TPTB in French-speaking areas seem to make a point of resisting the inclusion of words from foreign languages into contemporary French. Instead, French equivalents are devised and their usage ‘enforced’. In a similar vein, in Quebec at least, public display of foreign languages (e.g. on signs, labels) is officially prohibited or severely restricted.
What I am getting at, of course, is that whether its language, niqabs, or yarmulkes, French speaking peoples seem unduly close-minded. YMMV.