Jason Kenney's Wrongheadedness Re the Niqab

Jason Kenney, who should really know better, has this to say about the meaning of the niqab:

"I think it's completely wrong-headed to associate the niqab with Islam," Kenney said. 

"The niqab reflects a medieval tribal custom that reflects a misogynistic view of women."

Er, didn't Islam gets its start in medieval times among tribes on the Arabian subcontinent, and isn't a chick's lowly status enshrined in Islam's foundational texts as well as in the sharia, Islam's inherently misogynistic set of laws?

Also, as the Ceeb's Terry Milewski points out,

Kenney is correct that the vast majority of Muslim women, in Canada and worldwide, do not wear a veil and do not see it as a religious requirement. On the other hand, it just happens that those who wear it tend to be Muslims.

So it appears that, all things considered, the niqab does have something to do with Islam.

Sounds to me like Kenney is trying--and failing--to split hairs in the manner of those who insist on a distinction between "Islam" and "Islamism."