RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson recently approved an amendment to the force’s uniform code to allow female officers to wear a head scarf if they want to. Police forces in the cities of Toronto and Edmonton already allow specially-designed hijabs for uniformed officers.
‘A progressive and inclusive police service’
“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a progressive and inclusive police service that values and respects persons of all cultural and religious backgrounds,” government spokesman Scott Bardsley wrote in an email to CBC news.
Male RCMP officers of the Sikh faith have been allowed to wear turbans since the 1990s. That decision was adopted amid much controversy at the time.
In 1996, Lt.-Cmdr. Wafa Dabbagh became the first member of the Canadian Armed Forces to wear the Hijab. A forces manual dated 2001 says members can wear the headscarf as long as they follow certain safety conditions.
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