Dhillon decided to keep both: his dream and his faith. In his own words: "The courage came just from being clear about my identity and also having made a promise to my father in maintaining my faith and the requisite identity that comes from being committed to the Sikh faith." (Dhillon)
“We often hear our politicians say, ‘We have to be more tolerant.’ No. Tolerate a pimple, tolerate a hangnail, tolerate a headache. You don’t need to tolerate me. We are better than that. We are much better than that. Don’t diminish my capacity to accept and understand others by telling me that all I can do is tolerate others.
We don’t have to settle for just tolerance. It’s not necessary. When we say we have to be more tolerant, it’s a cop-out. How we need to be and should be with each other is expecting more from each other and at the very least, at the very minimum, we should be expecting acceptance and the next level from there is understanding.” (Baltej Singh Dhillon in Collins, Lauren article)
The RCMP uniform had earlier accommodated women by allowing skirts and heels and thus, in response to Dhillon's application, the RCMP commissioner recommended removing the force's ban on beards and turbans.
1990 National on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
•In 1996, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of Sikhs to wear turbans while serving, turning down an appeal by three former RCMP officers.
•Legal arguments put forward during the case included the harm it might cause the officer; for example, an assailant may disrespect and might strangle the officer with his own turban. (CBC Archives)