In the final stretch of the Canadian federal election we have been plunged into a discussion about cultural practices and what people (women in particular) should be allowed to wear. Our current (and hopefully about to be former) Conservative Prime Minister believes that the government should tell women what to wear. He believes that women who wear a niqab should be prevented from becoming Canadian citizens, even when they have completed all of the steps, including removing their niqab to prove identity to a female immigration officer. Apparently a total of two women have ever opted to wear a niqab when reciting the citizenship oath during the citizenship ceremony. Not exactly a burning issue and yet Stephen Harper has decided to make it an election issue. Or perhaps more accurately, an election distraction. He doesn't want us to talk about the stagnant economy, his former colleagues and appointees convicted and on trial, refugees, his secretive, manipulative style of government, income inequality or anything to actually support women in this country.