Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Ontario Won't Allow Turban-Wearing Sikhs To Ride Motorbike Without A Helmet

The Canadian Press Darpan, 19 Aug, 2014 05:01 PM
    TORONTO - Ontario won't allow turban-wearing Sikhs to ride a motorcycle without wearing a helmet, a decision the Canadian Sikh Association called "deeply" disappointing.
     
    Premier Kathleen Wynne wrote to the organization last week, saying she had struggled with striking the right balance between public safety and religious accommodation.
     
    "After careful deliberation, we have determined that we will not grant this type of exemption as it would pose a road safety risk," she wrote in the Aug. 14 letter.
     
    "Ultimately, the safety of Ontarians is my utmost priority, and I cannot justify setting that concern aside on this issue."
     
    The mandatory helmet law is based on extensive research that shows the high risk of injury and death for motorcyclists who ride without a helmet, she added. Mortality rates have gone down 30 per cent and head injury rates down 75 per cent in jurisdictions with such laws.
     
    Courts have also found that Ontario's law doesn't infringe on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the Ontario Human Rights Code, she said.
     
    The association has been a strong advocate for an exemption and presented "compelling arguments," Wynne wrote.
     
    "However, the Ontario government has carefully monitored, and considered, the soundness of accommodating your position, drawing on relevant academic research, key legal decisions, and consultations with caucus and the community."
     
    The organization said it felt let down by the Liberal government, which had promised to bring in legislation that would provide the exemption.
     
    "In all our discussions and meetings and consultations, we were given the understanding, assurances, commitment that we will be moving forward on this," said Manohar Singh Bal, secretary of the association.
     
    Members of all three parties as well as other high-profile Canadian politicians, such as former premier Bob Rae, all support the exemption, he said. Former transportation minister Glen Murray promised to introduce a bill sometime in March or April this year.
     
    "The premier has reversed her position, I will say, or has not followed through on the understandings and commitments that she gave," Bal said.
     
    British Columbia, Manitoba and the United Kingdom have all enacted legislation that allows turban-wearing Sikhs the right to ride a motorcycle, he said.
     
    Wearing a turban is part of their religion and dress code, he said. They can't go out in public without wearing one.
     
    "It's part of their very being as a person," Bal said.
     
    Ontario Provincial Police allowed its uniformed officers to wear turbans long ago, but the province won't grant Sikhs equality when it comes to the helmet law, he said.
     
    "It's mindboggling how they pick and choose where they want to accommodate Sikhs and where they don't want to accommodate Sikhs," he said.
     
    "It's just like we're at the mercy of the majority that they will pick and choose which rights we are entitled to and which rights we are not entitled to, and this is a classic example of that."
     
    Almost a year ago, Wynne spoke out against Quebec's controversial "values charter" which aimed to impose restrictions on religious clothing and symbols on public servants.
     
    Her government introduced a symbolic motion promising to oppose any bills that would restrict people's freedom of expression and religion in public places, which was passed unanimously in the legislature.
     
    NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh, who introduced a private member's bill to support the helmet law exemption, said he's also disappointed in the Liberals and will continue his efforts to protect all articles of faith.
     
    "While the Wynne Liberals are happy to pay lip service to civil rights, when the rubber meets the road, this so-called activist premier is quick to deny the Sikh community rights recognized elsewhere," he said in a statement.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Use of untested drugs for Ebola should be limited to best candidates: WHO

    Use of untested drugs for Ebola should be limited to best candidates: WHO
    The World Health Organization is trying to dampen runaway enthusiasm in some quarters for trying a number of untested compounds to treat Ebola in West Africa.

    Use of untested drugs for Ebola should be limited to best candidates: WHO

    Justin Trudeau Opposes Spending Taxpayer Money On Anti-Marijuana Ads

    Justin Trudeau Opposes Spending Taxpayer Money On Anti-Marijuana Ads
    SASKATOON - Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau lashed out Thursday at the federal government over a Postmedia report that Health Canada has approached three doctors' groups to sign onto an anti-pot advertising campaign.

    Justin Trudeau Opposes Spending Taxpayer Money On Anti-Marijuana Ads

    Mediator Vince Ready Agrees To Try And Help End B.C. Teachers' Dispute

    Mediator Vince Ready Agrees To Try And Help End B.C. Teachers' Dispute
    VANCOUVER - Veteran mediator Vince Ready is making himself available in an attempt to end the acrimonious dispute involving British Columbia's public school teachers.

    Mediator Vince Ready Agrees To Try And Help End B.C. Teachers' Dispute

    Canadian Pacific Rail Begins Bulldozing Gardens In Dispute With Vancouver Over Land Purchase

    Canadian Pacific Rail Begins Bulldozing Gardens In Dispute With Vancouver Over Land Purchase
    VANCOUVER - A bulldozer is mowing down mature trees and tearing up gardens along a stretch of abandoned Canadian Pacific Rail (TSX:CP) line that runs through the middle of Vancouver.

    Canadian Pacific Rail Begins Bulldozing Gardens In Dispute With Vancouver Over Land Purchase

    Quebec Soldier Says He Never Sexually Assaulted Female Soldier After Party

    Quebec Soldier Says He Never Sexually Assaulted Female Soldier After Party
    QUEBEC - A Canadian soldier accused of sexually assaulting one of his subordinates says he did not attack her and that she's the one who took the initiative.

    Quebec Soldier Says He Never Sexually Assaulted Female Soldier After Party

    Princeton Professor Manjul Bhargava is First Canadian to Win Nobel Prize in Math

    Princeton Professor Manjul Bhargava is First Canadian to Win Nobel Prize in Math
    A 39-year-old Canadian-born mathematician has won a prestigious award often described as the Nobel Prize in math.

    Princeton Professor Manjul Bhargava is First Canadian to Win Nobel Prize in Math