On Friday August 2, the World Sikh Organization of Canada provided a training session at Yorkdale Mall in Toronto for Hudson’s Bay managers and employees on the Sikh faith and the law of accommodation in Canada. WSO legal counsel Balpreet Singh delivered a presentation focused on Sikh beliefs, Sikh articles of faith, Canadian jurisprudence on accommodation and a question & answer session.
The seminar was organized after an incident where an initiated (amritdhari) Sikh woman’s kirpan fell from her clothes while she tried on clothing in the Bay’s change room. When she returned to the store to retrieve her kirpan, she was told the kirpan had been given to security and she would not be allowed to enter the store while wearing her kirpan in the future.
After contacting WSO, a dialogue was initiated with the Bay and it was recognized that the situation was the result of a lack of understanding on the part of the employee. The seminar was organized in order to address the situation.
WSO has delivered similar seminars for both public and private sector employees. Seminars are provided on a without-cost basis.
For further information or for organizing a similar training session at your workplace or elsewhere, please contact WSO at info@worldsikh.org.