A Sikh man in Windsor, Canada, made headlines after being removed from a GoodLife Fitness location for carrying a blade he identified as a kirpan, a religious article worn by observant Sikhs.
The man recorded the confrontation and posted it to social media, accusing the gym of racial profiling. Fitness commentator Greg Doucette took the opposite view, publicly defending the gym employee involved.
The incident started when another member noticed the blade and reported it to staff. A GoodLife employee then approached the man and asked him to leave. “What I’m saying is you have a weapon on your person,” she told him. “A member has brought it to my attention and for the safety of me and everybody else in the gym, I’m asking you to leave.”
The man pushed back, insisting his right to carry the item was protected. “You’re scared that I’m going to take this religious symbol and k*ll somebody,” he said during the exchange. The gym stood firm. “We’re a private gym. We’re allowed to deny access.”
Following the online backlash, GoodLife issued a formal apology to the man, stating the employee did not speak for the company.
The TikToker responded publicly: “Thank you so much GoodLife Canada for making a formal apology that this employee does not speak on behalf of GoodLife. We are not rule breakers.”
Doucette had little patience for the apology. “That GoodLife employee, they deserve an apology to them. Not to you. To them, you need to apologize,” he said.
The story took a further turn after Doucette examined the blade more closely. Consulting with members of the Sikh community as well as hunters, he concluded the item was not a kirpan at all.
“We had hunters identify your knife model,” Doucette said. “This is not a kirpan. Of all of the Sikhs I’ve spoken to, this is not a kirpan, dude. This is a buck knife.”
The blade measured 9 and 1/8 inches, well beyond accepted limits for a kirpan.
According to the guidelines cited by Doucette, a kirpan must remain under seven inches, must not be worn visibly, and must be secured so it cannot be quickly removed.
“The kirpan must be sufficiently secured to render removal difficult but not impossible,” he noted. The man’s blade was over nine inches, worn openly on his hip, and easily accessible.
Doucette concluded the episode had less to do with religious freedom and more to do with generating online attention.
“You are doing this for likes and attention to go viral. But you are now infamous,” he said.
