Since Premier Doug Ford is bringing in legislation to exempt Sikh motorcyclists from wearing helmets, he should take the next logical and fair step and exempt helmets for everyone.
Excluding Sikhs from helmet laws on the grounds of giving them a religious exemption smacks of exactly the same identity politics Ford and the Progressive Conservatives constantly rail against in other contexts.
To us, everyone riding a motorcycle should wear a helmet, just as everyone in a car should wear a seatbelt, for one simple reason — safety.
Years ago, when Sikhs were lobbying for the right to wear turbans as police officers and soldiers, the Toronto Sun supported them for two reasons.
First, this was a reasonable religious accommodation that did not involve safety.
Second, we believed devout Sikhs should not be prohibited from serving their country — either as police officers or soldiers — because of their religion.
Riding a motorcycle, however is a different issue.
It’s not a right, it’s a privilege, and governments impose many restrictions on anyone who wants to drive a motorcycle, car, or commercial vehicle, for reasons of safety.
Obviously motorcyclists not wearing helmets are going to be more vulnerable to serious head injuries than people who do, possibly resulting in higher insurance premiums and greater expense to our publicly-funded medicare system.
But if the Ontario government’s not concerned about that for Sikhs, then it shouldn’t be concerned about if for anyone else.
