Canada’s transportation security agency amends controversial policy on headgear following outcry from the Sikh community

• The change rolls back the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency’s April implementation of a new policy that targeted religious headgear for mandatory additional screening at airports.
• Because travelers wearing non-religious headgear were not subject to the same protocol because the headgear could be removed, the World Sikh Organization released a statement condemning the de facto discriminatory policy on behalf of Sikhs who had identified themselves as targets.
• The organization met with CATSA, who admitted the policy had been established by the government’s transportation department without consulting faith groups.

“I am being considered a security threat every time I travel for work, even (though) I’m a NEXUS cardholder. CATSA’s policy goes above and beyond what the Transportation Security Administration does in the U.S., and I believe it’s targeting religious minorities such as turbaned Sikhs.”

Read the full story at thestar.com.

(Image Credit: Nicholas Keung/Toronto Star)