Haircut turns into the battle over Human Rights

“For me it was just a haircut and started out about me being women. Now we’re talking about religion versus gender versus human rights and business in Ontario.” said McGregor.

        So I was looking through the newspaper to find some interesting story to share for this week’s blog post when I came across this article. Here is a very brief summary: A woman named Faith McGregor wanted to get a haircut, she walks into a Barber shop on Bay St. She asks the Barber to cut her hair, but the barber denies her request due to his religion. This Barbershop does not do haircuts for Women, mainly because of their religion. As Co-Owner Omar Mahrouk states “in his Muslim faith, he is prohibited to touch a women who is not related to him.” As a customer McGregor was insulted she felt like a “second class citizen” so she filed a complaint with the human right tribunal of Ontario. So far this case didn’t seem like a big issue in the court room, currently they are thinking of a negotiation. We have to look at this article at two different viewpoints. In the customer’s point of view she should have the right to cut her hair anywhere she wants in Canada, it is a free country. However did she have to make it a big issue if that wasn’t the case? In the case of the Barber he was Muslim, though should he be mixing his religious values with his business practices? He is losing customers, which could affect his business.

Here is a video:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/11/15/toronto-haircut-mcgregor.html

So can you or should you mix religion with business? In my opinion it depends on the area in which you decide to operate your business. For example a well known grocery store is no-frills. Depending on the area the products in no-frills change according to customer demand. At steels and Markham area the larger ethnic group is Asian so the store leans towards selling ethnic dishes whereas in port union and Lawrence road the larger group is Caucasian people so it wouldn’t be a good idea to sell many spicy, Asian ethnic dishes. In a multicultural country like Canada it is not good idea to sell a product which is of value to only one group of people or one type of religion it should be available and meet the needs of all people in Canada. Another example is the global leader in the beverage industry Coca cola. Coca cola is sold around the world but could be modified depending on the region. In Saudi Arabia they sell coke and it is known as Mecca Cola named after the holiest city in Islam. Selling a drink named as such in Saudi Arabia is appropriate and good for profit however in a mixed or international society like Canada that would not be a good marketing technique since the main ethnic group is not Muslim.

In my opinion it is not a good idea to mix religion and business especially in a society which consist of a diverse population. Once again it depends where you plan to conduct the business; you must obtain knowledge of your surroundings before making or selling any products.

So what do guys think?              

I actually got this article from the Toronto Star Newspaper but here is another link, in case anyone wants to read in depth about the article

 (I doubt it:)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/human-rights-collide-woman-files-complaint-against-muslim-170208719.html