Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. We're definitely supportive of the court challenges program. It was something that was used by a lot of community organizations to take forward cases that are really of great importance but often don't get the attention or the funding they need. Succinctly, yes, we would support the court challenges program.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think important work has been done with respect to gender equality. I think similar initiatives have to be directed towards racialized communities as well as people of faith. It's obviously self-reporting, so you can't force people to do it, but I think having the opportunity to report and then having that data available is really indispensable in terms of finding solutions.

Canadian Heritage committee  I don't have anything I can tell you right now off the top of my head, but overall the data is very important.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a good question. We really advocate on behalf of religious freedoms for anyone. The niqab is an example. The Sikh faith forbids the wearing of face coverings, but since 2010 we've been very vocal in our support of Muslim women who want to wear the niqab. It's a clear right.

Canadian Heritage committee  Concerns have been raised. I'll be honest. A lot of the opposition to motion 103 was based on anti-Muslim animus. It was not based on any sort of logical or principled reason. I also admit that the question of what Islamophobia is and how you define it has been used as a shield by some individuals.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. Statistics are important—I was saying that—as is enabling community organizations to reach out and connect amongst each other, but also with the general public. As I said, I have a lot of anecdotal stories in which people have said they have lived with a Sikh for so many years but have never actually asked, “Why do you wear a turban?”

Canadian Heritage committee  Once again, I'll go back to my two recommendations. First is statistics and numbers. I keep talking about the Peel District School Board, because I think they're doing a good job. What they've started to do is collect data on how many people of religious or ethnic backgrounds are at senior levels.

Canadian Heritage committee  Initially it was. In our most recent survey in Surrey, it was 32% of Sikh kids in Surrey said they were bullied, and that's 27% now in Peel. But we've been working with Peel for the past five years on different initiatives.

Canadian Heritage committee  This was a bullying survey of students within the Peel District School Board.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have done this as well in Surrey. We focused on these two major hubs where the community is really in large numbers. We were surprised by the fact that 40% of kids said they were bullied because of their Sikh identity, in 2011.

Canadian Heritage committee  Sure, it's “Turban”, and then “Eh”.

Canadian Heritage committee  That's a fair question. I think you'll find the Sikh community is really reasonable when it comes to these sorts of things. Where there's an actual risk of head injury—and particularly where a person isn't assuming the risk exclusively themselves, where they are responsible in a position where they could have an impact on others—a hard hat needs to be worn, or that person needs to be placed somewhere else if they're not willing to do that.

Canadian Heritage committee  The Loomba decision was an interim decision and focused specifically on whether someone was being specifically picked on when others weren't wearing a helmet, and whether that's okay or not. That decision said it wasn't okay. For example, in the U.K. there is a general exemption for Sikhs on work sites from wearing the helmet.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. You can find them on our website, but I'd be happy to forward them to the committee as well.

Canadian Heritage committee  I will for sure.