Brampton council is following Peel Regional Police’s lead in encouraging Quebec residents affected by new legislation prohibiting government workers from wearing religious symbols to apply for jobs in Brampton instead.

Last week, the Peel Police Services Board passed a motion condemning Quebec’s controversial Bill 21 — An Act respecting the Laicity of the State, while directing Peel police to run targeted employment ads in that province.

At a special council meeting on Wednesday (June 26), Brampton council followed suit and passed a similar motion inviting Quebec residents to do the same for emergency services and municipal government jobs in Brampton.

“The department and city, it’s really open to anyone. Any gender, orientation, religious or cultural background. It’s great, we think diversity, equity and inclusion are extremely important. It’s one of strategic goals to diversify our organization, and we think it will really help us as we become more reflective of the community we serve,” said Brampton fire chief, Bill Boyes.

Mayor Patrick Brown, who tabled the motion, originally intended it to focus on Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, but his motion was expanded to include all city departments before council passed it with a 9-1 vote.

Wards 7 and 8 Coun. Pat Fortini was the lone dissenter after expressing his concerns about taking away jobs from deserving Bramptonians. However, Brown made it clear residents from Quebec wouldn’t be given preferential treatment.

“This is not about queue jumping,” said the mayor. “In Quebec, they are saying if you wear a turban, if you wear a Kippah, if you wear a cross, you can’t apply to that job. You have to choose between your faith and your work. We’re saying the opposite. We don’t want to have a smaller pool, we want to have a larger pool and competition is the best (way) to get the best talent.”

Like Peel police, the city will place select advertising in Quebec promoting the initiative.

While still supporting the motion, Wards 9 and 10 Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon, who is a member of Brampton’s Sikh community, tried to add an amendment to the motion directing staff to perform an audit of Brampton’s own staffing and hiring processes.

“I didn’t object to the motion itself per say,” said Dhillon in an interview. “I think we should support those who are affected by Bill 21, absolutely … But, I thought it was an appropriate opportunity for us to also show our residents and give confidence to our own residents that we’re serious about inclusion and equity here in Brampton.”