ONTARIO’S Peel Regional Police announced Wednesday that on Tuesday “information was miscommunicated to the media” and they wanted to correct that.
They said: “The investigation relating to the Immigration Watch flyer distributed last week in Brampton is still ongoing.”
Peel Regional Police have sought guidance from the Crown Attorney’s Office regarding the messaging in the flyer and are still awaiting a response.
Peel Regional Police said they want the public to know that they will continue to work with their communities in order to achieve a “Safer Community Together.”
TheWorld Sikh Organization of Canada had last week condemned racist flyers distributed by the group “Immigration Watch Canada” targeting the Sikh community in Brampton.
The flyer titled “The Changing Face of Brampton” laments the decreasing proportion of “Mainstream Canadians” in Brampton and contrasts an older picture of a largely Caucasian group with a recent picture of a group of Sikh men and women.
Brampton is home to a large Sikh population. According to the 2011 Census results, approximately 19 per cent of the Brampton population reported their religion as Sikh.
WSO Ontario President and Brampton resident Prabhmeet Singh Sarkaria called the flyers “the work of an isolated fringe group and don’t reflect the view of the vast majority of Bramptonians or Canadians.”
WSO President Dr. Amritpal Singh Shergill called the flyers “an example of ignorance and fear-mongering.” He added: “Despite Immigration Watch Canada’s claims, Sikhs are proudly “mainstream” Canadians. We have been in Canada for well over 100 years and Sikhs are an integral part of their communities in Brampton and across Canada. We are Canadians. Period.”