Sometimes there are no good choices for government.

There's not a word in the Quran or the Hadith that requires that women cover their faces. To the contrary, the only requirement is that they uncover their faces when they're doing the haj.

I think I've chosen the right path.

Sometimes the government has to answer questions with ambiguous language.

You ought not to accept the claim that this is a religious practice. I think that's, frankly, problematic for Islam, for well-intentioned Liberals like you to say that this is a religious practice when the overwhelming consensus of Islamic scholars around the world, and the overwhelming majority of Canadian Muslims, believe this has absolutely - that the niqab as face covering, that this symbol of misogyny has nothing to do with Islam.

For members who have only ever been in government, the negativity and aggressiveness of the opposition is easy to caricature.

I think very few people in Canada are seeking - to regulate any public expressions of individuals' religions.