A tweet from Toronto Sun political columnist Brian Lilley about the colour of Jagmeet Singh’s turban has been deleted after it drew accusations of racism from the South Asian community.
On Wednesday, March 8, Galen Weston, CEO of George Weston Limited and executive chairman and president of Loblaws, appeared in front of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to answer questions about grocery price inflation. Lilley’s only post on the topic was about Singh’s turban.
Reaction from the South Asian community and Canadians in general was swift.
“Our turbans, irrespective of colour are not “No Name,” tweeted former Ontario MPP Gurratan Singh.
“By wearing a turban we are named Singh and Kaur. They are a sign of honour to signify our commitment to truth, justice and equality. When we wrap it around our heads we stand taller and prouder. This tweet is just wrong.”
“The comments on that tweet that we saw by Brian Lilley about Jagmeet Singh’s turban were extremely insensitive, inappropriate, and hurtful and I think there’s no room in Canadian discourse for comments like that to be disseminated,” said Gurpreet Kaur Rai, spokesperson for the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
“As Sikhs, we’re already a marginalized community in Canada, and we’re also a visibly marginalized community, so when we have journalists tweeting things like this and disseminating this these types of comments is extremely hurtful, but it also creates a dangerous precedent in the wider Canadian society that these types of comments are OK and normal.”
On Thursday, the WSO demanded that immediate action be taken.
The tweet should be deleted, first and foremost, and there should be a public apology put out by Brian Lilley and the Toronto Sun
Gurpreet Kaul Rai, World Sikh Organization
“The tweet should be deleted, first and foremost, and there should be a public apology put out by Brian Lilley and the Toronto Sun,” Rai said.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, Lilley deleted the tweet, and apologized, although he didn’t directly reference the tweet.
While the original tweet has been deleted, Lilley’s responses to criticism of the tweet are still posted.
In the hours after it was posted, the tweet prompted reaction from politicians across Canada, demanding Lilley retract the post.
Singh wasn’t available to speak to reporters, but did comment on his own Twitter account on Friday afternoon.
