When Sukhman Singh Shergill was a little boy, police cars would make him turn his head in excitement.
He collected police badges and notebooks, watched cop shows and told anyone and everyone around him: "I'm going to be a police officer one day."
Shergill is now 15, and his dream remains the same.
"I love the [idea of] helping the community," Shergill said. "It's out of love for people. I love people. I want to make them comfortable."
He watched with admiration as his older cousin, Gurvinder Singh, blazed a trail in New York City.
As president of the New York Police Department's Sikh Officers Association, Singh helped lead the charge for the NYPD to change its uniform policy in 2016, allowing officers to wear turbans in place of the traditional police cap.
"He really helped a lot of people. He really helped his community and his religion. All religion," Shergill said.
Sukhman Singh Shergill, right, is 13 years old in this 2013 photo. He's pictured with his older cousin, Gurvinder Singh, who helped lead the charge for the NYPD to change its uniform policy in 2016, allowing officers to wear turbans in place of the traditional police cap. (Submitted by Manpreet Shergill)
Shergill has long envisioned carving out his own place in Montreal history by becoming the first officer to wear a turban in the city's police force, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
"Since he was born, he's always wanted to be different, to do something to be remembered," said his mother, Manpreet Shergill.
The Quebec government's proposed Bill 21, which would ban public workers in positions of authority, including teachers, lawyers and police officers, from wearing religious symbols, has only strengthened her son's resolve.
"I'm going to fight it," said Sherghill, a Grade 9 student at a high school in Montreal's Pierrefonds neighbourhood.
"I feel targeted by it because I can't be a police officer anymore, and they're just destroying my dreams like that," he said.
Last weekend, he created a new Facebook group — the Quebec Association of Sikhs — and posted a video explaining his opposition in the hope of galvanizing support.
Watch Sukhman Singh Shergill explain why he wants to be a police officer. 1:11
Shergill, however, faces an uphill battle.
Quebec Premier François Legault has said he'd consider compromising on some aspects of the bill — but not the prohibition on police wearing religious symbols.
The issue flared up last year when Sondos Lamrhari, who wears a hijab, came under public scrutiny for her plans to become a police officer. The Coalition Avenir Québec, the Official Opposition at the time, took a hard line.
The position is consistent with the 2008 Bouchard-Taylor report into the accommodation of minorities, which suggested that public workers who exercise the coercive authority of the state, such as police officers and prison guards, be barred from wearing religious garb.
But the authors also acknowledged that "a police force is likely to more readily gain the trust of a diversified population if it is diversified and inclusive."
In a statement, Montreal police communications commander Jonathan Martel said the SPVM is closely following the progress of Bill 21 but hasn't taken a position on religious symbols.
The city's police union has said it's in favour of the ban.
In the past, representatives from the SPVM have said the question is only theoretical since no one wearing a hijab or turban has applied to work on the force.
Gurpreet Singh, centre, stands with fellow members of the New York City Police Academy. In 2016, he pushed the NYPD to allow turbans in place of traditional police caps. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)
Still, Marvin Rotrand, a Montreal city councillor, has been saying for years that local police need to be more welcoming.
He wrote a letter to the city's executive committee last year asking that Montreal follow the lead of the RCMP, as well as cities like Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver, in allowing police officers to wear religious clothing and symbols.
Mayor Valérie Plante said at the time she was open to the idea but has yet to take action.
Rotrand said he's planning to table a motion at next month's city council meeting urging her to make the change.
The SPVM has struggled to diversify its pool of officers despite launching a recruitment drive last year aimed at minorities and Indigenous people.
Only 7.5 per cent of its officers are visible minorities, according to its 2017 annual report — far from reflective of the city's population, about one-third of which are visible minorities.
"It doesn't take very much work to approve changes to your uniform rules, which will tell minorities [that] if they are otherwise qualified and have all the degrees and finished the training, they will be hired," Rotrand said.
"People are not going to spend years to become qualified and spend the money to go through all the courses, and then go through the police academy, only to be told there is no job for them."
Singh, the president of the Sikh Officers Association, said the change to the NYPD's policy signalled to young minorities in New York that the police force was part of the community.
"It just helps build better relationships," Singh said.
It has also helped other members of the police force gain a better understanding of the Sikh religion, he said.
"When they respond to a [call], they might be able to relate better."
Manpreet Shergill says her son has always wanted 'to do something to be remembered.' (Claire Loewen/CBC)
Since the new policy, Singh said there's been a small influx of Sikh officers. His association now has more than 150 members.
The Toronto Police Service (TPS), which has allowed officers to wear religious symbols such as the hijab since 2011, said the change in policy is part of a broader attempt at inclusivity.
"What we're trying to create is an inclusive police force and a service that values and respects individuals and various cultures and backgrounds," said Suelyn Knight, manager of diversity and inclusion with the TPS.
If Bill 21 becomes law, Shergill said he won't move away to pursue his dream. He's determined to make Montreal police reflect the city's diversity by joining the force himself.
"I want to show people that this is our religion," Shergill said. "We would like to be a part of the Quebec society, and be more comfortable."
Lurked4EverB4Joining on April 15th, 2019 at 15:13 UTC »
I. I always wanted to be a police officer. I want to be remembered and make Montreal history for being the first person to wear a turban in the city's police force, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). I would like to ignore the fact that the very police force I want to join and their union support the proposed bill, as does a very clear majority of the population of Québec. I want to show people that this is our religion. I don't care that this is not what people want, in fact it is quite clearly the opposite. I don't care. This is what I want.
Querzis on April 15th, 2019 at 14:28 UTC »
Alright, let me explain something to people who don't get it. Public servants like police, judges, lawyers etc... are already forbidden from showing any political belief or ideology while they are on the job. An Antifa symbol, a red hammer and sickle or even just a Trudeau shirt (yes those exist), they are already forbidden from showing any of those while they are on the job. And not just in Québec, everywhere in Canada and no one seems to have any problem with that.
So please explain to me why we need to make an exception for religious symbols? Please explain to me how is it any different to feel like your judge is biased because hes wearing a MAGA hat or because hes wearing a kippa? In both case, its showing that he believes his ideology is more important then his job. Which is fine in the private sectors but certainly not for a public servant. But of course, just like with them not paying taxes or not having to respect our gender equality laws, religions are an exception here. This is just another case of laws not applying to religions.
Just do yourself a favor and go look up Duplessis and the Silent Revolution. We already had a government in Québec where the religion and the state where indistinguishable from each other and it put us 50 years behind the rest of Canada both economically and culturally. We barely caught up with the damage it did to us now. So what you are praising right now, mixing religion and the government, we've seen where that lead and we want none of it. Just try to find a single example in the entire world where mixing religion and the government turned out alright! Now I'm guessing you'll say ''just wearing a religious symbol doesn't mean all of that'' yes it does. It absolutely does. If you really can't just leave your religious symbols at home when you go to work, that tells me your religion is more important then your job. Which is fine in most jobs mind you. I have no problem with people in most jobs doing this. But not when you're a public servant. A public servant only duty, their only ideology is supposed to be as impartial as possible. I do want my public servant to show no belief or ideology whatsoever. Its the whole point.
Jusfiq on April 15th, 2019 at 13:38 UTC »
I have been asking this question since the Charter of Values days, but I never get a logical answer of it. I hope that I can be enlightened here.
Charter of Values, secularism, laïcité or whatever they wanna call it. One of main subject in this discourse is the wearing of religious symbols by person in power. I wanna take Sikh's turban as an example. It is generally accepted in many jurisdictions around the world that people of Sikh faith are allowed to wear their turban and keep their beard neatly when they are wearing uniforms.
British Army allows this, so are U.S. Army, Australian Army, New Zealand Police, Canadian Forces, RCMP, OPP, many Canadian municipal police forces, the list goes on. On the other hand, it is proposed that peace officers in Quebec - provincial and municipal - of Sikh faith will not be allowed to wear their turban. It is posited that by wearing their turban, such officer will not be able to serve the population fairly.
Now, my question then, if in all those jurisdictions around the world there is no major social tension caused by Sikh people wearing turban while in service, why would that be a problem in Quebec?
This is not a rhetorical question, I genuinely want to know.
ETA 1:
It is interesting that of all replies to my post, not a single one of them actually answers the question. Instead, there are attacks against anglosphere, whether justified or not, there are straw man argument or attacks against me personally.
ETA 2:
Many brought the argument that my examples were mostly from English-speaking jurisdictions. Very well, I add the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway into the mix. My question remains, why is it acceptable in those jurisdictions but not in Quebec?