# Quebec Gov't Tells Veiled Muslims "Go to the back of the line"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-govt-tells-veiled-muslims-go-to-the-back-of-the-line/532735>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [March 17, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-govt-tells-veiled-muslims-go-to-the-back-of-the-line/532735 "2010-03-17T05:24:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 12

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quebec-govt-tells-veiled-muslims-go-to-the-back-of-the-line/532735/12 "2010-03-17T10:47:58Z")

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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](http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=caf95c44-735f-4ee9-b905-c3473cd31609&k=70626), too) and I’m sure you’ve heard about the [similar brouhahas](http://www.independentcollegian.com/2.10031/france-s-new-oppression-1.1330118) 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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_dispute_over_Quebec%27s_language_policy).

What I am getting at, of course, is that whether its language, niqabs, or yarmulkes, French speaking peoples seem unduly close-minded. YMMV.

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