Current Events
Racist Neanderthals Run Amok in Peel Regional Police Force:
Evidence Before Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Canada
SAN GREWAL
While he was helping solve homicide and sexual assault cases, investigating gangs and gathering intelligence on drug rings -- racking up a long list of awards and commendations for all the work -- one of the first Peel police officers of South Asian descent endured a constant barrage of racist taunts within the force, as his career stalled largely because of all his success, an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing heard Monday (November 9, 2015).
The two disturbingly contrasting experiences with Peel Regional Police began almost immediately for Staff Sgt. Baljiwan (‘B.J.’) Singh Sandhu, he testified as full hearings began to address his complaint of being discriminated against in 2013 when he was not considered for a promotion.
Baljiwan, who joined the force in 1989, said that during his training, a supervisor in the force’s communications bureau explained to new recruits what his group did.
On their first week they were told communications was currently done by “Peel police officers,” Baljiwan testified. Then the supervisor said, “’Pretty soon you will see that women and Pakis will be managing those duties.’ As if he hadn’t even seen me in that room.”
Later the same week, when Baljiwan walked into a gym, one of the officers yelled out, “ ‘Hey, no one called a cab.’ The whole room, more than 100 officers sitting on bleachers, were sitting there laughing at me,” he said, adding that it was “humiliating” and “embarrassing.”
He told of how senior officers and peers routinely called him “Gunga Din,” “Gandhi” and other terms meant to embarrass him, with supervisors, other than on one occasion, blowing off his requests to have the chronic behaviour addressed. It continued, with racist cartoons of him and pictures being openly sent to him or pinned up on his supervisor’s office wall, he said.
Glenn Christie, the lawyer representing Peel police in the human rights complaint, tried unsuccessfully to prevent Baljiwan from presenting evidence on his historic treatment, arguing it was not relevant to his failed promotion effort in 2013, the subject of the hearings. Tribunal vice-chair Bruce Best ruled it was relevant, agreeing with Baljiwan’s lawyer, Kelley Bryan, who argued that the historic evidence helped establish “an embedded discriminatory attitude” that was allegedly prevalent throughout the force.
Meanwhile, the tribunal heard that almost as soon as the taunts and discrimination began, while other new hires were still being assessed, Baljiwan was being seconded to help with a range of complex cases because of his South Asian language skills -- he speaks Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu -- cultural knowledge and extensive contacts, as the Sikh-Canadian and South Asian community began to expand in Brampton and Mississauga.
Baljiwan read from internal commendation letters outlining how his police work was instrumental in a number of solved cases, including a double-murder investigation, which he travelled to England for, another homicide and the arrest of a sexual-assault suspect after the force’s criminal investigations bureau could not find the man. He detailed interview techniques and cultural awareness that he said he often used to help solve cases.
A long list of awards, many recommended by Peel police, was also highlighted, including one for humanitarian of the year and the prestigious Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal awarded to Baljiwan in 2012 for his outstanding contribution to policing and community safety.
But as early as 1995, Baljiwan said that while all of the police work was giving him incredible experience -- in homicide, intelligence, gang and drug units -- and public exposure, he was being pigeon holed as a “South Asian” officer who was to deal with the rapidly growing “South Asian” community.
He read from a 1995 supervisor’s note, that stated Baljiwan was being “over used” by the force because of his expertise. It was in response to his request for broader experience to advance his career. He testified that he was being told by supervisors to instead help the force deal with the growing number of issues in the South Asian community, as Peel police struggled to keep pace with the dramatic demographic shift.
He was eventually promoted to sergeant and then in 2009 to staff sergeant.
But after agreeing not to apply for another promotion a few years later, Baljiwan alleges he was discriminated against when he tried to break into the “senior officer” ranks in 2013, when he sought a position as an inspector.
At the time, none of Peel police’s 55 senior uniform officers, those above the position of staff sergeant, were South Asians. And despite the fact that 80 to 85 of the force’s total number of 2,000 uniform officers were Sikh and South Asian, less than 5 per cent, even though they made up 43 per cent of Brampton’s and Mississauga’s population, Baljiwan testified.
By 2009 he was eventually reporting directly to the top boss, at former chief Mike Metcalf’s request. Quoting a 2011 magazine article that highlighted Canada’s three most “influential South Asians” of the generation, including Baljiwan, Bryan asked him about one of the other names featured in the article.
“Harjit Singh Sajjan, is that our new minister of defence?”
“Yes,” Sandhu responded.
Christie acknowledged that Baljiwan received a “glowing” appraisal by his supervisor when he tried to get a recommendation for the promotion in 2013, but did not explain why he was prevented from even being considered.
The hearing heard that despite being tapped by the force numerous times to work as an “acting inspector,” racking up 872 hours in that role, Baljiwan was one of only two applicants, out of 33, who was not considered for promotion to eight inspector positions filled in 2013.
The hearing stage of the tribunal has been delayed since June, when Peel police objected to releasing the application packages of all those candidates who were considered for the promotion. Last month the tribunal ordered the documents released and they will be addressed later in the hearing process.
[Courtesy: The Toronto Star. Edited for sikhchic.com]
November 12, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Sarvjit Singh (Millis, Massachusetts, USA), November 12, 2015, 9:54 AM.
Shocking! All this time we were thinking Canada is much more advanced and tolerant than the USA for Sikhs, and here we have this article ... If you compare similar race bias situations in US vs Canada, you will notice that Sikhs are far above average in their respective fields. Perhaps they work harder while trying to prove themselves, yet they don't rise up in careers, and they are tiny in proportion numerically. In contrast, Blacks in USA are denied opportunity too (like Sikhs), but they make far more percentage of the population. Conclusion: Sikhs would have to be above average (alpha) in every respect in order to compete with or bypass the average racist. But it shouldn't be difficult for us: our DNA helps us excel!
2: Parmjit Singh (Canada), November 13, 2015, 6:41 AM.
The title is fitting. I refuse to be a victim, so I've been a fighter against racism like so many of us. However, if we fight honorably, we must acknowledge that racist neanderthals also run amok amongst Punjabis who claim Sikhi. Let's lead by having the courage to look within and speak out.
3: Harmander Singh (London, United Kingdom), November 14, 2015, 5:17 PM.
Recent research into the take up of university places in the UK revealed that white British children were the least likely to go to university - the response from (almost) all respondents was to claim the ethnics were being favoured at the expense of the indigenous white kids, some total rubbish was being spouted but the response below was not permitted to be posted: Very amusing debate. Bankers, politicians, Board members - vast majority are white - they are the ones who have got the global markets up the creek and despite more White British people living in other countries than minorities living in the UK (and I am not even including the countries just simply landed on boats and took over in the past) the ethnics still get blamed for outperforming anywhere where individual effort and achievement cannot be 'whitewashed'. The school of thought that says 'White is right' may be an unsustainable superiority complex as the ethnic minorities appear to be achieving the said results in spite of the additional challenges they face of innate discrimination. My understanding is that foreign students pay upfront over the odds for the same education to the universities - in order to subsidize the indigenous students. They therefore do not have to pay back because they have already paid upfront. I am third generation British, my ancestors were fighting for Britain voluntarily when I suspect some of the locals here had their ancestors hiding in broom cupboards to avoid conscription. The angst shown by some white uneducated people in jobs towards well qualified ethnic minority colleagues is indeed amusing when the ethnic minority beats them in open competition based on capability. Time after time, exercises where white unemployed people are 'given' the same menial jobs as ethnic minorities by employers has shown the white participants simply give up very quickly and start moaning about having to turn up on time and producing the same output as the ethnic minorities. Maybe we all need to reflect on this before giving half baked jaundiced opinions and being poor apologists for a mistaken belief that everyone puts in the same effort. Can we imagine if the expats would ever come back and put in a reasonable shift alongside others doing menial jobs? One suspects the answer is no, but many feel it's okay for them to emigrate to other countries where the natives have been subjugated to a non-entity status. Apart from the Celts, who in fact is truly 'British' anyway?