South African Canadian Zakira Jogiat participated in her Canadian Citizenship Ceremony while wearing niqab. She reflects on the opportunities for dialogue the current niqab debates have opened up.

On March 14th, thousands of Canadians gathered across the country in over 70 communities to show their outrage over the Conservative government’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, Bill C-51. Everyone from Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, to NDP Party Leader Tom Mulcair and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, to former Prime Ministers Paul Martin, Jean Chretien , and Joe Clark, have spoken out against this Bill, stating that it will needlessly infringe on the civil liberties of Canadians and also will probably not increase national security. Despite this, the Conservative and Liberal Parties have stated that they will vote in favour of the Bill.

Recently, amid security concerns and alleged electoral fraud, Afghan men and women stood under pouring rain to cast their ballot in the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan.

Many young people were discouraged from voting by family members because of the danger around many polling stations. But regardless, images show long lines winding their way around those areas.

Here in Canada, there are few security concerns or fear of attacks and yet many young people are not turning up at voting stations.  According to Elections Canada, 38.8% of youth between ages 18-24 participated in the federal elections in 2011.