Officers allowed to wear hijab:

Hoping to boost recruiting of Muslim women, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is allowing its officers to wear hijabs as part of their uniforms, the government said Tuesday.

“The commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police recently approved this addition to the uniform,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s spokesman Scott Bardsley told AFP.

“This is intended to better reflect the diversity in our communities and encourage more Muslim women to consider the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a career option,” he said.

The RCMP officer’s uniform — a red serge tunic, leather riding boots and widebrimmed felt campaign hat — is an iconic Canadian symbol.

It dates back to the 1800s, when the RCMP’s forerunner, the frontier Northwest Mounted Police, spread law and order to the wilds of Canada’s western provinces and Arctic territories.

Inspired by British military uniforms of the period, it has since undergone only minor changes. (AFP)