Mounties from Flickr Creative Commons by Pedro Lopez
The World Sikh Organization is charging the Royal Canadian Mounted Police of discrimination for forcing Sikh and Muslim Mounties off the street to desk duty, reports CTV News.
The RCMP made the move concerned that the beards on these officers could compromise the effectiveness of face masks.
“They’re feeling exasperated, they’re feeling as though their hands are tied. They don’t want to speak out against their management, against other senior officers, but they don’t know what to do,” WSO spokesperson and legal counsel, Balpreet Singh, said to CTV. “They’ve been living with this situation for almost six months now, and their friends and colleagues and other police forces don’t have this problem.”
CBC reports that other departments, including the Vancouver Police Department do not have similar policies. The Mounties, however, a national police service in Canada, says it has no choice because federal law requires no facial hair for use of N95 masks.
“Unfortunately, there is presently no evidence of a safe and proven alternative to the currently approved PPE [personal protective equipment] that meets the unique uncontrolled setting in which our front-line members operate and that adheres to occupational health and safety regulations,” said the Mounties Cpl. Caroline Duval to CBC.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told the Globe and Mail he thinks the Mounties need to do more “in a timely matter” to accommodate those who wear beards for religious reasons.
“We have raised this matter with the RCMP, and expect that this be rectified as quickly as possible,” said press secretary Mary-Liz Power.
The RCMP is now pledging to work on that.
“We have heard the concerns of our members regarding the lack of safe facial PPE for members with beards,” the force said. “As a direct result of these concerns, we have assessed a number of possible alternative PPE options that would not require a clean-shaven face.”
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