In the cavernous beatly street, Dnili-Hall, about 11 members of an armored crewman’s troop stood facing a row of jeeps.

Standing among them, in the second row, and wearing the same green uniform and black boots as everyone else, was Private Harjit Singh Sajjan, 19.

His legs slightly apart, hands clasped behind his back, Sajjan looked the same as the other members of the B.C. Regiment except for one thing. Instead of a beret, Sajjan wore a black turban with a Canadian Armed Forces vest prominently displayed on the front.

Sajjan a shy but determined young man who finished among the top in his class during basic training has yet to confront any military task that he couldn’t do ‘wearing a turban. He has been able to wear a gas mask and a helmet over his turban or patka a smaller version of the regular turbans. He plans to join the air force next year.

For Sajjan keeping his hair uncut and wearing a turban is an integral part of who he is.

“For me it is very important. It is part of my religious identity. If the military did not have a policy on turbans, I couldn’t have joined,” he said.

Four years ago, the Canadian military adopted a policy allowing Sikhs to wear turbans. A similar attempt by the RCMP to change its official uniform however is generating opposition across the country.

Opponents say the official dress RCMP uniform is a Canadian icon and shouldn’t be changed to accommodate any ethnic or religious group. They also say an RCMP officer wearing a turban isa sign of multiculturalism run amuck.

But supporters argue those against turbans are borderline racists unable to accept a Canadian from a non-European background. They say the issue is a real test of whether multicultural means something more than cute ethnic dances and costumes.

Solicitor-General Pierra Blas, ‘who must approve any major changes to the RCMP uniform has said a decision on whether to allow Sikhs to wear turbans is imminent.

The opposition to RCMP officers wearing turbans has generated the most controversy in Alberta.

‘One organization that has crystallized that opposition is the Reform party. Last year, the party passed a resolution calling on parliament to preserve the “distinctive heritage and tradition of the RCMP.

Gordon Shaw, B.C. vice president of the reform party echoed party leader Preston Manning’s contention the RCMP turban issue is part of a larger problem.

He said immigrants used to come to Canada as Canadians first and members of their particular ethnic group second. Multiculturalism, Shaw said, has changed that Immigrants become hyphenated Canadians whose differences rather than similarities are emphasized.

Shaw said opposition to the proposed change tends to come from Canadians who feel that “enough is enough.”

Orest Kruhlak disagrees strongly. He is executive director of The Larrier Institute, a national body that organizes research on multiculturalism and ethnic issues. In 1971 while working for the secretary of state, Kruhalak helped draft then Prime Minister Pierre Truddeau’s speech introducing multiculturalism as federal policy.

Now a visiting political science professor at the University of B.C. Kruhlak said opponents of turbans are using the idea of maintaining RCMP tradition as a cover for what is an “essentiality racist” stand.

The turban issue will make people “stand up and be counted” about how they feel about visible minorities in Canada.

Krunlak said just as Canadians expect immigrants to Canada to integrate so too will Canadian institutions have to change to accommodate a changing population.

Kruhlak said the federal government’s decision will determine whether multiculturalism is something more than just “singing and dancing.”

Last June RCMP Commissioner Norman Inkster told the House of Commons justice committee he was recommending the government change the force’s dress code to allow Sikhs to wear turbans. In making the request, Inkster cited the forces needed to attract visible minorities.

For the Canadian Forces, the issue has already been settled.

Sikhs in the armed forces, whether posted in Canada or abroad, have been allowed to wear turbans and the other aspects of their faith since 1986.

Details are spelled out in the force’s dress manual. Sikhs in the navy wear white turbans in the army green and in the air force blue.

(The proposed RCMP turban would be dark blue with a crest on the front),

Capt. Ric Jones, a department of national defense spokesman, said while national defense does not keep statistics on the number of visible minorities in the armed forces, he believes Pte Sajjan is the only Sikh member wearing a turban in either the regular forces or reserves.

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