In a racist attack, Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh, was asked to ‘cut his turban off’ by a stranger in the streets of Montreal’s Atwater Market.
VIDEO of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh being confronted at Montreal’s Atwater Market by someone who advised him that he should remove his turban. #cdnpoli #polqc pic.twitter.com/iNFQ4QGlmW
— Debra Arbec (@DebraArbecCBC) October 2, 2019
Singh, a Sikh born in Canada to immigrant parents from Punjab, is a Member of Parliament in Canada. As seen in above video, he is greeting a stranger in the market and asks how he (stranger) is doing. After exchanging pleasantries, the man leans in and tells Singh, “You know what? You should cut your turban off so you can look like a Canadian.”
Responding politely to this casual racism, Singh tells the man that Canadians look like all sorts of people. The man then continues the racist attack by telling him, “In Rome, you do what Romans do.” Singh again politely tells him that this is Canada but you can do whatever you like.
Singh later took to Twitter to talk about the incident and said, “do not change who you are”.
Beaucoup de Canadien·nes se font dire qu’on doit changer qui nous sommes pour réussir. Mon message pour vous : ne changez pas qui vous êtes. Tout le monde mérite sa place. https://t.co/T8wDnfsNMi
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) October 2, 2019
In a tweet in French, the Canadian MP said, “Many Canadians are told that we must change who we are to succeed. My message to you: do not change who you are. Everyone deserves his place.”
Canada is gearing up for the upcoming elections and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was recently under the scanner when his old picture wearing racist brown make up in 2001 surfaced much to his embarrassment.
Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was 29-years-old back then when the picture was clicked. It appeared in the 2000-2001 yearbook of the West Point Grey Academy where he was teaching.
Following the publication of the photograph, Trudeau has apologised for the same. “I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known better and I didn’t. I’m really sorry,” he said. He even added that back then he did not consider it racist but now he “knows better”.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the New Democratic Party in Canada said that Trudeau’s behaviour was “troubling” and “insulting”.
Canada is set to go to polls on 21st October and Trudeau is seeking reelection. Pollsters in Canada suggest it will be a close competition between Trudeau and his opponent Andrew Scheer.
