Whassup With The Canadian Council of Muslim Women?

I'm confused. The Canadian Council of Muslim Women has, in the past, fought the effort to bring sharia law into Ontario, and recently took part in a joint International Women's Day event with Jewish women (a gathering hyped in/by the CJN). Its motto is: "Equality. Equity. Empowerment." And yet, the same organization is intent on protecting the niqab, the sharia-decreed face covering that is the antithesis of "moderate" Islam. Here, for example, is how the CCMW unpacked the niqab issue in a press release issued late last month:

(Toronto, ON, Feb 24, 2015): The Canadian Association of Muslim Women in Law (CAMWL) is dismayed that the Conservative government will be appealing the Federal Court’s decision to strike down (effective immediately) the federal ban that prohibited citizenship candidates from wearing face coverings while taking their citizenship oaths. The Conservatives have stated that this ban is specifically meant to target Muslim women who wear niqabs. The ban and this appeal demonstrate a crass Conservative politic of capitalizing on anti-Muslim xenophobia to score populist support. ...

What an odd way to put it. Is there some other group out there that insists on covering up in public even while taking the oath of citizenship? What--are there people who demand, say, the right to wear an "Anonymous" mask when taking the oath?

I don't think so.

And what's the deal with that xenophobia stuff? It sounds like the sort of paranoia, accompanied by a Harper Derangement Syndrome chaser, that usually emanates (or spews) from the mouths of irate, not-so-moderate imams.

But, hey, I can't wait for that next CCMW 'n' Jewish chick interfaithy chat-fest. (And neither, I wager, can the CJN.)