'A tiff with the nation': Now retiring, first Mountie to wear a turban at work reflects on his career

First Mountie to wear turban retires Baltej Dhillon, the first RCMP officer to wear a turban on the job – as he reflects on nearly 30 years with the RCMP.

In 1990, Insp. Baltej Dhillon made history as the first RCMP officer to wear a turban on the job.

He represented the changing face of the RCMP at a time when the country was sharply divided on the issue.

After years of service, Dhillon is retiring from a career that included some of the most high-profile cases of the last few decades.

The inspector joined CTV Morning Live Thursday to reflect on his career, which includes the Air India bombing, the Robert Pickton investigation and the Surrey Six trial.

After viewing file footage captured when he became the first Mountie to wear a turban, he said it seemed like yesterday that he was marching around at the RCMP training facility.

"What had happened was I wasn't even allowed to join the RCMP," Dhillon said of the start of his career.

"I was offered a position with the RCMP and I turned it down because the requirement for me was to remove my turban, shave my beard. The uniform at that time didn't accommodate religious beliefs or religious articles."

Dhillon walked away, but then the debate began.

"I often muse that I had a little bit of a tiff with the nation. We've made up since," he said.

About a year later, the RCMP commissioner made recommendations which were accepted by the government. The uniform changed, and Dhillon was given the opportunity to serve.

He faced challenges with racism and discrimination, he said.

"The first part of it was just disappointment that there would be this type of reaction in a country, in a nation, which was welcoming of all people from all over the world," Dhillon said.

He knew the Charter of Rights and Freedoms supported religious rights, but the hatred he saw disappointed him. Dhillon said he received phone calls and was sent angry postcards with death threats from all over Canada.

"Once I got into the RCMP that continued for a bit. My first conversation with my detachment commander wasn't very uplifting, I would say, and he certainly was very critical of the fact that the uniform had been changed and wasn't supportive of it," he said.

But things got better over time.

His first posting was in Quesnel, and one of his duties was to do bar checks. Initially, people would stop drinking when he walked in and the music would stop.

"They would take time out of their drinking to stand up and boo me," he said.

It went on for weeks, but he had support within the community and within the detachment itself.

"I joined to do a job, and I expected much of what occurred – maybe more than others – but I carried through, kept doing what I needed to do," he said.

While Dhillon is retiring after a lengthy career with the RCMP, he'll be keeping busy. He's joining the integrated police agency that focuses on gang activity.

When asked about how gang activity in Surrey has changed over the last 30 years, he said, "I don't think it's any secret to anyone that violence in our community is something that we're all focused on, we're all concerned about."

Dhillon lives in Surrey, and said the issue is top of mind for him.

"The efforts continue and the work continues, and I'm certainly looking forward to contributing to that effort myself."