Toronto apologies to Sikh community for no beard policy; to reinstate terminated employees

The City of Toronto on Wednesday apologised to the Sikh community after a clean-shave policy, implemented earlier this year after a COVID crisis, led to around 100 men being expelled from their jobs.

New Delhi:After the outrage of the controversial Kali poster in Toronto, yet another sacrilegious incident has come to the forefront. The city of Toronto has apologised to the Sikh group after the clean-shave policy led to around 100 Sikh men being expelled from jobs. The policy that was put in place earlier this year amid the covid crisis required employees to be clean-shaven as part of the proper fitting of masks.

The city of Toronto in a statement said, "The City of Toronto apologizes to the World Sikh Organization of Canada for any delay in addressing this issue and ensuring security contractors were offering religious accommodations". The statement read that the City of Toronto "formally contacted its contracted security service providers and restated its expectations that they appropriately accommodate any Sikh security guard employees who have requested religious exemptions and reinstate any employee whose employment was terminated, immediately".

"Effective today, the City of Toronto will immediately permit “under-mask beard covers” as a reasonable accommodation option for individuals who maintain facial hair as a tenet of their faith and are required to be present at City sites with protective N95 respirator requirements. This includes contracted security guards at City shelter locations", it added.

Under-mask beard covering is a method of applying a tight-fitting mask over a beard that covers the chin and cheeks, and ties in a knot at the top of the head. An N95 mask is then worn over the cover. The technique, also known as the SingThattaha Method, is used by many Sikh people in the medical community anise highly effective in respirator fit testing.

The City of Toronto has confirmed to its contractors that with the option of under-mask beard covers now available, any impacted contracted security guard staff should be reinstated to these City shelter locations immediately and they should be appropriately compensated for any financial impact. It is pertinent to note that Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world, particularly in the field of politics. The present House of Commons has 22 Members of Parliament of Indian origin.