Dear Readers,
The cold has officially begun in Canada and I am bracing myself for the Winters. The country is currently preparing for the federal elections due on October 21. Main party candidates are campaigning in full force, and as we all know, we have a Sikh leader running primarily in the race. National Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh shot to international fame in 2017, when a woman interrupted him in a campaign event and yelled at him.
It was Singh's utmost cool and calm demeanour that caught the public's eye. No stranger to bigotry, Singh was in Montreal last week for a national debate. Walking the streets with his wife, he came across a man who asked him to “cut off the turban” so he could “look more like a Canadian”. Singh's response was of a person who is no amateur to dealing with unaware people. He was respectful and commendably poised when he told the man, “Oh, I think Canadians look like all sorts of people. That's the beauty of Canada.”
Canadian history is witness to the hardships of the Sikhs who first arrived in this country generations ago. Three hundred and thirty seven Sikhs, 27 Muslims, and 12 Hindus tried to emigrate to Canada in 1914 on the now infamous Japanese ship Komagata Maru. Most of them were denied entry and had to return to now Kolkata. What followed were unfair immigration policies from the predominantly white government of Canada. The Sikh community were one of the first immigrants from India to have landed in the north-American country, only to face stringent and dishonorable treatment. While the country has come a long way in accepting immigrants since then, it saddens my heart to see such behaviour rampant even today. Respect for other people's culture is part of acceptance. Education seems paramount.
Singh, the first member of a visible minority to lead a federal party has often used such incidents as a teaching moment and says he hopes his public image will help people learn and be more sensitive to other religions.
Protests held across Quebec over Bill 21
Meanwhile, Quebec's Bill 21 has become a prominent issue in this year's elections here. Over 130 Montrealers came together at Place Émilie-Gamelin for the second time, on Sunday, to protest Bill 21- the secularism law that forbids religious symbols in the public service. The law adopted in June by the National Assembly came with a grandfather clause protecting teachers hired before March 28, 2019.
Protesters said the law is discriminatory and worry it is creating a climate of hate. Muslims and Sikhs are especially tensed with the law as it prevents them from wearing a hijab or a turban in public. In Quebec and the rest of the country, a majority of people surveyed said public employees should be allowed to wear a crucifix while on the job. But support significantly drops when the symbols in question relates to the Islamic faith.
Canada's main federal party leaders, Liberal Justin Trudeau, Conservative Andrew Scheer, New Democrat Jagmeet Singh and the Green party's Elizabeth May, are frontrunners in the race. Recent poll suggests that support for Trudeau is the highest, with 35 per cent, followed by Scheer with 34 per cent. The poll found that the Singh would receive 15 per cent of the popular vote. All four major leaders have denounced the secularism law.
However, is that enough?
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Photo Caption: NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is asked to "cut off your turban" by a man in Montreal so he could "look more like a Canadian"
