Montreal police 'open' to officers wearing hijab

While theRCMPhasadopted a new uniform policy to allow femaleMuslim officers to wear thehijab, two ofQuebec's major police forcesdon't have defined positions on the subject.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the RCMP adopted its newpolicy in January.

• RCMP allows Muslim women Mounties to wear hijab

Montreal police spokespersonCmdr. Marie-ClaudeDandenault said the force has no official policy butis open to the idea.

"Our position has not been established, it's more of a feeling that we're very open to it. We've not received any demands so we've not had to answer that yet," shesaid.

Dandenaultsaid they are looking into the possibility of usingspeciallymade hijabs designed for police officers, similar to those used byother forces.

The force doesn't keep figures on its members' religious beliefs, so it can't be sure how many, or if any,of its1,459 femaleofficers are Muslim.

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Case-by-case basis for the SQ

Sret du Qubec spokesperson Lt. Jason Allard saidthe SQ has no policy regarding officers wearing the hijab.

He said the SQ "will take any request" from an officer wishing towear the hijab, but he added that the request would stillhave to be accepted.

The SQ hasn't received any requests from officers to wear a hijab, he said.

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Between 2007 and March 2015, the SQ hired 735new police officers but only five of those hires were from what it calls "cultural communities" groups that have different national or cultural traditions from the main population.

Allard said the force is encouraging people of all backgrounds to apply.

TheToronto, Calgary and Edmonton police services all have dress codes that allow for the wearing of hijabs.

Earlier this week,Coalition AvenirQubecMNA Nathalie Roy said she doesn't believe police officers in Quebec should be allowed to wear the Islamic head covering while working,

"TheIslamic veil only serves to subjugate women and should therefore be banned from the police uniform," she said.