In the News: RCMP Approves Uniform with Hijab

RCMP Approves Hijab As Part Of Mounties’ Uniform, Mohamed Omar, Huffington Post Canada, 2016-08-24

Sixteen years after the RCMP let Sikh officers wear a turban, it’s now allowing Muslim Mounties to wear a hijab as part of their uniform. Global News reports RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson “recently approved” adding the religious headscarf to the uniform.

Scott Bardsley, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, told AFP the move is aimed at encouraging more Muslim women to join the RCMP’s ranks, as well as to “better reflect” the diversity in Canadian communities.

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Two other police forces in Canada have also approved the hijab as part of uniform attire. Edmonton OK’d the covering for its officers in 2013, while Toronto approved it in 2011.

Very sad news for Canada, another stop towards normalizing religious fundamentalism in public spaces. The RCMP claims that approving a uniform with hijab will help to integrate Muslim women. No, on the contrary, it will simply increase the presence and influence of fundamentalists who refuse to adapt to modernity.