{"id":1696,"date":"2011-02-03T09:32:35","date_gmt":"2011-02-03T09:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/?p=1696"},"modified":"2023-04-26T09:39:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T09:39:53","slug":"sikhs-call-on-legislators-from-quebec-to-respect-minority-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/sikhs-call-on-legislators-from-quebec-to-respect-minority-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"sikhs-call-on-legislators-from-quebec-to-respect-minority-rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1696\" class=\"elementor elementor-1696\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d384616 elementor-section-height-min-height elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-items-middle\" data-id=\"d384616\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-background-overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-188bb26\" data-id=\"188bb26\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3ecd55b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3ecd55b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-46e4a1d\" data-id=\"46e4a1d\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-69256b30 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"69256b30\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-content\"><p><b><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Sikhs Call on Legislators from Quebec to Respect Minority Rights<\/span><\/b><\/p><p id=\"h6kw\"><b><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Highlights:<\/span><\/b><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li><b><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Four members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada were invited and subsequently uninvited to the National Assembly in Quebec after demands were made they remove their kirpans.<\/span><\/b><\/li><li><b><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Following the incident, Louise Beaudoin, elected member of the Parti Quebecois, boldly justified the exclusion stating ???multiculturalism may be a Canadian value. But it is not a Quebec one.???<\/span><\/b><\/li><li><b><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Bloc Qu??b??cois has called for the ban to extend to Parliament Hill where Sikhs are currently free to wear the kirpan.<\/span><\/b><\/li><\/ul><p>Quebec, Canada: Four members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada were refused entry into the National Assembly of Quebec unless they removed their kirpans. UNITED SIKHS urges legislators from Quebec to use good judgment and show respect for minorities living in the province.<\/p><p>Baljit Singh, Director of UNITED SIKHS in Toronto, expressed his grave disappointment over the discriminatory incident that transpired on January 18, 2011 at the National Assembly of Quebec: \u201cWe are shocked that this kind of incident would continue to be an issue in Canada.\u201d\u00a0 We call on elected representatives of the National Assembly in Quebec and the Bloc Qu??b??cois to exercise the same good judgment that exists in the rest of Canada when dealing with articles of faith and freedom of religion in general. The position taken by these elected representatives does a disservice to Quebec and diminishes its image internationally\u201d. He calls upon ordinary Quebecers to let their legislators know in no uncertain terms that they do not take kindly to them tarnishing the image of their province internationally by creating an impression of intolerance to minorities in Quebec.<\/p><p>Sikhs are a well-integrated community in Canada that have been continually afforded acceptance and respect for their articles of faith by the larger community. While they remain a religious minority, Quebec itself is a minority within English-speaking Canada. ???The kirpan always reminds me to stand for justice and equality. It is this very notion of justice, equality and preserving one???s unique differences that Quebec has historically fought to maintain??? pointed out Ranbir Singh, UNITED SIKHS Director in Toronto.<\/p><p>Canadian lawyer and community leader, Mark Persaud states: \u201cThe recent mistreatment of the members of the Sikh community at the National Assembly in Quebec is a stark reminder that the rights and freedoms we enjoy as Canadians are susceptible to attack. We must constantly be on guard to protect vulnerable religious and cultural minorities in Canada.??? Mr. Persaud reminds Quebecers of their own history of facing discrimination and prejudices and expects legislators from Quebec to be protective of the rights of other minority communities. He urges the Quebec people to speak out against this unfortunate incident and demand measures by the legislature to protect minorities and prevent any future embarrassment to the province.<\/p><p><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Liberal MP for Mississauga Brampton South, Navdeep Bains, further reinforced the need to promote respect and understanding. In his speech to the House of Commons Mr. Bains states he has always worn his kirpan since his election in 2004 without a problem and \u201cit is necessary that our debate be reasonable and respectful, avoiding the rhetoric which tries only to divide Canadians.\u201d To watch the speech, please\u00a0<a id=\"acsf\" title=\"click here\" href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gBZM23OsjuE\">click here<\/a>\u00a0and read the English translation\u00a0<a id=\"w1g9\" title=\"here\" href=\"https:\/\/unitedsikhs.org\/docs\/NavdeepBainsSpeech.pdf\">here<\/a>.<br \/><\/span><\/p><p>Although the incident at the Quebec Assembly was regrettable and unfortunate, it provides an opportunity for dialogue with the various communities that enrich Quebec and Canada. UNITED SIKHS stands in solidarity with the global Sikh community and the political leaders that have condemned the incident. Sikhs look up to the ordinary citizens of Quebec to stand with them and ensure that a similar event does not occur in the future.<\/p><p><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">For background information on the incident and current kirpan accommodation laws and policies in Canada, please\u00a0<a id=\"tn8-\" title=\"click here\" href=\"https:\/\/unitedsikhs.org\/docs\/BackgrounderKirpaninCanada.docx.pdf\">click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Issued by:<\/span><\/p><p><span class=\"Apple-style-span\">Susan Kaur<\/span><\/p><p>Legal Fellow<\/p><p><span class=\"Apple-style-span\"><a href=\"mailto:law-canada@unitedsikhs.org\">law-canada@unitedsikhs.org<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/div><footer class=\"entry-footer container--small\"><div class=\"entry-meta-footer clearfix\"><div class=\"la-sharing-posts\"><div class=\"social--sharing\">\u00a0<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/footer>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div 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Sikhs Launch Multi-dimensional Strategy To Remove Canada\u2019s Ban On Religious Symbols\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-post__meta-data\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-date\">\n\t\t\tJune 20, 2019\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-avatar\">\n\t\t\tNo Comments\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sikhs Call on Legislators from Quebec to Respect Minority Rights Highlights: \u00a0 Four members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada were invited and subsequently<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ichra","category-press-release","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1696"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1840,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1696\/revisions\/1840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedsikhs-canada.org\/demo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}