Sikh Males In Ontario And Random Police Stops (Carding)

This thesis is based on interviews with Ontario adult Sikh males who have had carding experiences. The participants' responses indicate that discrimination occurs towards Canadian Sikh males, including institutional discrimination. During their carding experience, the Sikh males were usually given either a made-up traffic violation reason when they were driving, a false investigative reason when they were on the street, or no reason at all to stop them. A good portion of the participants also faced a random search of their vehicles and/or of themselves during their carding incident. In exceptional cases, Sikh males faced an abusive experience. Thus, the participants view carding as a practice that targets their communities. I argue that carding has negative impacts towards Sikh males, including impacts on their psychology, future opportunities, and their evaluation of Canadian police officers. Participants provide that police conduct towards their communities needs to improve.