Royal Canadian Mounted Police allows Muslim officers to wear hijab
New policy aims to better reflect diverse communities and recruit more Muslim officers
The Mounties have adopted a new uniform policy to allow female Muslim officers to wear the hijab.
Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, confirmed that RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson recently approved an addition to the uniform policy to allow women officers to wear the head scarf “if they so choose.”
“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a progressive and inclusive police service that values and respects persons of all cultural and religious backgrounds,” Bardsley said in an email.
Male members of the Sikh faith have been able to wear the turban as part of the RCMP uniform since the early 1990s, he noted.
That right was won by Baltej Singh Dhillon, a young practising Sikh who wanted to become a Mountie but also wanted to wear a turban on the job.
The federal government’s decision in 1990 to end the ban and allow him provoked emotional debate and widespread protests across Canada.
Lt. Commander Wafa Dabbagh became the first female member of the Canadian Armed Forces to wear the hijab in 1996. (Chris Mikula/Postmedia News)
Bardsley said the new policy is intended to better reflect diversity in Canadian communities and to encourage more Muslim women to consider the RCMP as a career option.
Special RCMP hijab developed
RCMP Staff Sgt. Julie Gagnon said current policy, which came into effect in January 2016, requires an “exemption” to wear the hijab from the commissioner, the only senior officer permitted to approve faith-based accommodations.
Gagnon said the RCMP developed a hijab for applicants or serving female members of the Islamic faith, reflecting “the diversity of the RCMP’s workforce.” It underwent rigorous testing to ensure the design meets “the highest standards of officer safety.”
She said the RCMP currently has no members requesting to wear the hijab on duty.
The only other religious or cultural item allowed is the turban for male officers.
Bardsley said the RCMP will be the third Canadian police force to adopt the hijab policy, behind Toronto and Edmonton police services. Police services across the U.K., Sweden and Norway, and some in U.S. states, have also adopted similar policies.
CBC
~Wakenya Canada