The Ontario Council of Sikhs was founded in March 1987 and was incorporated in April 1990. It was a community based organization committed to community development. The main objectives of the organization were:
• To promote, preserve, and maintain Sikh religion, culture, identity, and heritage
• To facilitate the integration of Sikhs in Canadian society
• To educate mainstream Canadians about the value system of first generation Canadians
• To provide and facilitate access to direct social and community services
• To promote, encourage, and undertake activities and projects that are consistent with and will further the objectives of the Council
The main interests of the Council included: the recognition of Sikh articles of faith (the 5-Ks); race relations; media relations; public education; policing; human rights; employment equity; immigration and refugee issues; and social and community services.
In pursuit of the above aims the Council: coordinated and/or attended a variety of conferences, workshops, and seminars; produced a variety of publications; submitted comments and material to various committees and agencies; conducted research; and participated in advocacy campaigns.
The Council was composed of a Provincial Assembly, an Executive Committee, and a Standing or Special Committee. The Provincial Assembly could consist of up to 31 members. The Executive Committee contained a President, Secretary, Treasurer, and four Directors.
The Council was administered out of 238 Davenport Road, Suite 10, in the City of Toronto and was active until at least 1997. The Ontario Council of Sikhs may have become the Ontario Sikh Gurdwara Council.
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Fonds consists of records created and or collected by the Ontario Council of Sikhs and includes of reports, legal exhibits, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other material. The majority of the files relate to a 1990 Ontario Human Rights Commission case wherein Harbhajan Singh Pandori claimed infringement of his religious rights as a Sikh under the Ontario Human Rights Code. A supply teacher with the Peel Board of Education, Pandori claimed that the Peel Board of Education’s disciplinary policy prohibiting the wearing of weapons, including the kirpan (a dagger-like article of religious faith worn by baptized Sikhs), was discriminatory. The dispute went before the Ontario Human Rights Commission tribunal, with a final ruling that the kirpan could be worn to school subject to restrictions. The Ontario Council of Sikhs served as a coordinator during this time, gathering research, arranging & giving presentations, and corresponding with various organizations and government officials.
The records were under the care and custody of Manohar Singh Bal in his role of Secretary of the Ontario Council of Sikhs.
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File consists of records related to the ongoing fight between Harbhajan Singh Pandori and the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Peel Board of Education about the Sikhs' religious rights to wear the kirpan. The material includes the following: a [transcription?] from the District Court of Ontario between Sukhdev Singh Hundal and the Peel Board of Education; a letter from the superintendent of Community and Administration Services to all principals and vice-principals about the procedures for students who wear kirpans; several faxes; a letter to Mohinder Singh Gosal from Marilyn Ginsburg of the Ontario Human Rights Commission; several letters from the Federation of Sikh Societies of Canada (the president is Mohinder Singh Gosal); a short brief about the Kirpan of the Sikhs prepared by the International Sikhs Youth Federation; information from the court case between Suneet Singh Tuli and the Board of Trustees of the Albert Protestant Separate School District Number 6; information on the Kirpan in the school; letter from the secretary/community Relations Office Council for Racial Equality in Essex, England; and information from a court case between Dalbagh Singh Hothi and Her Majesty the Queen and Lawrie Mitchell (one of her Majesty's Provincial Judges in and for the Province of Manitoba).
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File consists of correspondence relating to the Kirpan Court Case. The material includes the following: letters from the Ontario Council of Sikhs (with attachments), Ontario Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Citizenship, Deputy Attorney-General (attached with a copy of a [transcript?] of a court case about the Judge not allowing Sikhs to wear their karpin in court); an article entitled "Hard Hat Struggle and Religious Freedoms of Sikhs in Canada"; an article entitled "Guidance Note Religious Observance at Work"; another copy of the [transcript?] of the court case where the Judge would not allow Sikhs to wear their karpin in court; information about the Highway Traffic Act in regards to motorcycle safety helmets exemption regulation; Ontario Provincial Police Dress Code Policy; Metropolitan Toronto Police Dress Code Policy; and information on the court case between Sukhdev Singh Hundal and the Peel Board of Education.
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File consists of information about the kirpan and Sikhs; newspaper clippings; and the exemption of the kirpan from the Arms Act.
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File consists of letters from the Ontario Council of Sikhs to the Minister of Citizenship and to the Assistant Deputy Minister.
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File consists of records compiled by Dr. J.W. Spellman, who worked on behalf of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
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File consists of a letter from Avtar Singh Brar, the president of the Ontario Council of Sikhs; notes on the Sikhs and the kirpan; recognition of the 5 K's (the Sikh religious emblems) by Government Agencies and Parliamentary Committees; and religious exemptions made for Sikhs abroad to ensure that they can follow the 5 K's.
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File consists of reports made by the Canadian Human Rights Reporters about the complaint made by Harbhajan Singh Pandori and the Ontario Human Rights Commission about the Dress and Grooming Codes within the Peel Board of Education, which forbid the "wearing of kirpans to school".
Includes volume 12, decision 7; volume 12, decision 8; volume 12, decision 43; and volume 14, decision 44 from the Canadian Human Rights Reports.
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File consists of photocopies of newspaper clippings; and questions asked by Marilyn Ginsburg (legal counsel of the Ontario Human Rights Commission) about the kirpans that were answered by Manjit Singh, Bhag Singh Ankhi, and Parkash Singh.
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File consists of a document pertaining to the ongoing fight between the complainants Harbhajan Singh Pandori and the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the respondent the Peel Board of Education. The document is divided into the following sections: the issue, summary of other testimony, legal analysis, and conclusions.
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File consists of a document made by Keel Cottrelle Harris, the solicitors for the Peel Board of Education, pertaining to eight other court cases that relate to the court case between Harbhajan Singh Pandori and the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Peel Board of Education.
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File consists of memos and correspondence relating to the Karpin Court Case. The memos are about the Ontario Council of Sikhs and Sikhs' religious beliefs. Similarly, the correspondence addresses the Sikhs' religious beliefs and emblems; the letters are from the Ministry of Citizenship, Ministry of Education, Ministry of the Solicitor General, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of the Attorney General, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Ontario Council of Sikhs, and the University of Lethbridge (with two brief articles on South Asians and Sikhs from the Canadian Encyclopedia attached). There is also a list of the 5 K's committee members.
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File consists of a brief prepared by the Federation of Sikh Societies in Canada, which was presented to W. Gunther Plaut (Chairman of the Board of Inquiry) in the matter of Ontario Human Rights Commission versus the Peel Board of Education et al.
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File consists of a document that is being submitted to the 5 K's Inter-ministerial Committee.
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File consists of a report by Milton Israel (Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto), which was prepared for the 5 K's Interministerial Committee of the Government of Ontario.
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Ontario Anti-Racism Secretariat, Policy and Operations Branch.
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The volume consists of information on Sikhs; Sikh emblems; the quest for justice; and background information on the following: Ministry of Education and Training; Ministry of Transportation; Ministry of Labour; Ministry of Solicitor General; Ministry of Attorney General; and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
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The volume consists of information on the Ontario Human Rights Code; the Canadian Human Rights Act; Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; Highway Traffic Act; Construction Projects (hard hats) regulations; Bhinder versus the Canadian National Railways; Alberta Human Rights Commission versus Central Alberta Dairy Pool; Sehdev versus Bayview Glen Junior Schools Limited; Pandori versus Peel Board of Education; Police Services Act; British Columbia Government Employees' Union versus Attorney General of British Columbia; R.. versus Hothi; and amendment to B.C. Police (uniforms) Regulation.