OLDCORN: Conservative politicians should stop playing ‘dress-up’ with cultural and religious attire

Canadian conservatives spend a lot of time telling voters they believe in plain speech, common sense, and national confidence. Good. They should start dressing like it.That does not mean politicians should avoid Sikh gurdwaras, indigenous ceremonies, Vaisakhi parades, cultural festivals, or community halls. Quite the opposite. Conservative leaders should go everywhere, speak to everyone, and treat every Canadian as a full citizen, not as a voting bloc to be flattered with a costume change.The problem is the increasingly ridiculous habit of conservative politicians putting on cultural, religious, or ceremonial attire outside their own ordinary dress attire. It is usually defended as respect. Too often, it looks like weakness, vanity, and cheap ethnic vote chasing.Voters can see through it. They know the routine. The politician arrives, smiles for the cameras, puts on the garment, says a few approved words, poses beside community leaders, posts the photo, and leaves. Then everyone is supposed to pretend this was a profound act of respect rather than another staged performance by people who think Canadians are stupid..Alberta Premier Danielle Smith recently learned that lesson the hard way. A photo of Smith wearing a traditional First Nations ribbon skirt at a northern Alberta college “sparked controversy” online. The issue was not that the ribbon skirt is “foreign.” It is not. It is indigenous clothing, deeply rooted in this country. That is exactly why politicians should be cautious with it.A ribbon skirt is not a campaign accessory. It is not a prop. It is not another item in the political costume closet. .It carries meaning for the women and girls who wear it, including Isabella Kulak of Cote First Nation in Saskatchewan, whose experience of being shamed at school helped inspire National Ribbon Skirt Day. When politicians borrow such symbols for public display, they risk turning something meaningful into another piece of political merchandise.That is not respect. It is appropriation with a press release.Smith has also attended Vaisakhi events in Calgary, including at the Dashmesh Culture Centre, during the festival that marks the birth of the Khalsa and is celebrated by Sikh communities. Covering one’s head in a gurdwara is customary. Nobody should mock that religious requirement. A guest should follow the rules of a house of worship.But there is a line between observing religious etiquette and using religious symbolism as campaign branding. Too many politicians blur that line because they think it helps them look inclusive, sensitive, and connected. What it really makes them look like is desperate.They do not merely show up. They dress up, pose, post, and move on. The result is not reverence. It is content. It is not humility. It is marketing. It is not respect for faith. It is another campaign visual for consultants to circulate on social media.This is not only a Smith problem. .Jason Kenney made ethnic outreach a central part of conservative politics for years. There are photos of Kenney, then a federal minister, wearing a Sikh-style head covering while visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 2013. Kenney also attended a huge Vaisakhi event among Sikh Canadians in traditional dress and multicoloured turbans. Kenney was serious about courting immigrant communities, and he was often effective.But effectiveness is not the same as dignity. A politician can win votes and still look foolish doing it..Conservatives should not measure everything by whether it worked. They should ask whether it was worthy.Pierre Poilievre has also leaned into Vaisakhi and Khalsa celebrations. His Conservative Party has issued formal Vaisakhi statements under his leadership, praising the founding of the Khalsa and the contributions of Sikh Canadians. That is appropriate. The Conservative leader should recognize major faith communities.But recognition does not require theatrics. Public images of politicians in bright religious or cultural attire feed the same tired pattern. They show up, put on the garment, smile for the cameras, publish the photo, and claim a connection to that community. It is formulaic. It is embarrassing. And ordinary voters, including many people inside those communities, know exactly what is happening.They are being managed.Doug Ford has done the same in Ontario. Ford has marked Vaisakhi as premier and attended Sikh Spiritual Centre events in Etobicoke, including Khalsa Day and Vaisakhi celebrations. Again, attending is not the problem. The problem is the visual politics of borrowed reverence.Politicians seem to believe that wearing someone else’s symbols proves closeness to that community. In reality, it often proves the opposite. It suggests they have no idea how to show respect like normal adults. So instead of speaking clearly, listening seriously, and offering policy that matters, they reach for the outfit. .Stephen Harper offers an older and more dramatic Conservative example. In 2011, Harper was made an honorary chief of the Blood Tribe, donned a headdress, and had his face painted by a medicine man. That ceremony was offered by the Blood Tribe, and Harper accepted it as an honour. It was not a Halloween costume.Still, in hindsight, it shows the danger of political leaders stepping into sacred or ceremonial symbols they do not personally live. Even when the invitation is sincere, the resulting image can become larger than the gesture itself..A prime minister in ceremonial attire is not merely a guest. He is a political figure producing a national image. Conservatives, of all people, should understand the difference.The weekend nomination fight in Scarborough Southwest should be a cautionary tale for conservative politicians. Federal Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith tried to use the riding as a path into Queen’s Park ahead of a possible Ontario Liberal leadership bid, only to lose the Liberal nomination to businessman Ahsanul Hafiz by 19 votes out of more than 1,400 ballots cast. Erskine-Smith raised concerns about the process, while Hafiz rejected suggestions that the result was unfair.Conservative politicians should hear that warning clearly. Communities do not want to be treated as tools, props, costumes, backdrops, photo opportunities, or launch pads. They do not want political tourists arriving for a festival, borrowing the symbols, extracting the image, and disappearing until the next election.They want representation rooted in seriousness. They want politicians who understand their taxes, their schools, their businesses, their streets, their temples, their churches, their mosques, and their neighbourhoods. They want leaders who respect them enough to speak to them as Canadians, not as ethnic categories to be activated by a wardrobe change.The conservative answer should be brutally simple. Show up in a suit. Shake hands. Take off your shoes where required. Cover your head when a house of worship requires it. Follow the rules of the place. Then stop there.There is a difference between obeying religious etiquette and adopting cultural display for political theatre. A guest in a gurdwara should cover his head. A guest at an indigenous ceremony should follow the host’s instructions. But politicians should not seek out symbolic garments for a campaign shot, nor should staffers package those moments as proof of belonging.Canada does not need conservative leaders pretending to be Sikh, First Nations, Hindu, Muslim, Ukrainian, Filipino, or anything else for an afternoon. Canada needs conservative leaders who can speak to Sikh truckers about taxes, First Nations leaders about resource revenue, Hindu families about public safety, Muslim parents about schools, Ukrainian Canadians about national defence, and everyone about the cost of living.That is real respect..The political class has spent years confusing costume with connection. It is lazy. It is condescending. It treats culture as décor and faith as set design. It lets politicians avoid the hard work of earning trust by pretending that a borrowed garment can do the job for them.Conservatives should reject that completely.A common national life is not built by leaders changing outfits depending on the room. It is built by telling every room the same truth: you are Canadian, your rights matter, your culture is yours, and your government should serve you without turning your heritage into campaign material.There is no shame in honouring communities. There is shame in reducing them to backdrops. There is shame in treating sacred and cultural attire as a political shortcut. There is shame in pretending that borrowed clothing can substitute for serious policy, honest conversation, and durable trust.Conservative politicians should stop playing dress-up. They should stop letting consultants turn multicultural outreach into a travelling Mr. Dressup costume show. They should visit, listen, speak plainly, and dress like public servants.That would be more respectful, more honest, and far more conservative.

OLDCORN: Conservative politicians should stop playing ‘dress-up’ with cultural and religious attire

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