With roots dating back to 1800s, April is Sikh Heritage Month in Canada
Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Apr, 2023 11:41 AM
Chandigarh, April 2 (IANS) With roots dating back to the 1800s, April is Sikh Heritage Month -- a time to celebrate and honour the rich history and culture of Canada's Sikh community.
"With 800,000 Sikhs calling Canada home, we have the largest Sikh diaspora, with roots of the first Sikh in Canada dating back to the 1800s," said Punjab-origin Member of Parliament (MP) from Brampton West, Kamal Khera.
At 26, Khera was the youngest to have won in the elections in Canada in 2015. She represents Canada's ruling Liberal party.
"As a Sikh, I am proud of the contributions and achievements of our community!" she tweeted.
In one of her visits to Punjab, she said: "My counterpart in India is always with heavy security, I move freely."
Proud of vibrant Sikh community, Sonia Sidhu, MP from Brampton South, tweeted, "April 1 marks the beginning of Sikh Heritage Month in Canada and as Canadians, we are proud of our country's strong and vibrant Sikh community."
"This month, let's continue to learn about Sikh Heritage in Canada."
Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, said this year "we celebrate 10 years of Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario".
Among many of the events listed, he said he would also be hosting a special event to award Gurbax Singh Malhi the key to the Brampton city on April 18.
As a mark of respect for Canada making it the second largest Sikh population in the world, the Mississauga Civic Centre clock tower was lighted with orange, part of the city's Community Recognition Programme.
Learning the faith of the Sikhs, another MP Francesco Sorbara said, "During this month we recognise the contributions to our country by the more than 800,000 Canadians of Sikh heritage, learn about their faith and rich history."
Randeep Sarai, Member of Parliament for Surrey Centre, said, "This month, I encourage you all to take this opportunity to learn more about the Sikh faith!"
India-origin Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand, said Sikh Heritage Month "is a time to recognise the many contributions of the Sikh community across Canada. Today, I joined members of the Oakville and Halton Sikh community at the flag raising at Oakville Town Hall".
"This is an opportunity for Ontarians to come together to learn more about the Sikh faith and celebrate the many ways Sikh Ontarians help build a stronger and better Ontario," said Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Michael Ford.
MP for Vancouver South, Harjit Sajjan, said, "Learn about how the Sikh values of equality and 'seva' (selfless service) are reflected in what we as Canadians strive toward."
Another Punjab-origin Aman Singh, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough, added, "On behalf of our British Columbia New Democratic Party government, our caucus and colleagues at your opening gala for Sikh Heritage Month. I know there are many events planned throughout the month."
According to Sikh Heritage British Columbia, its philosophy is providing a space where the Sikh community can connect with each other and with neighbouring communities to help each other prosper, learn and grow.
Its promise is, "Create a space where Sikhs and non-Sikhs can come together to create connections and relationships for prosperity."
The ASEAN summit, which is scheduled to start on Saturday, is the first of four international meetings that Trudeau will attend over 10 days. He will also attend the G20 in Indonesia, the APEC meeting in Thailand and a Francophonie summit in Tunisia.
Delta Police Department responded to reports of shots fired in the area of 92A Ave and 117 Street in North Delta. Upon arrival, officers located a 22-year-old man from Delta with significant gunshot injuries. The victim is recovering in the hospital from his injuries. The investigation is ongoing.
A decision in the trial of former Surrey, B.C., mayor Doug McCallum comes down to his intention to mislead police by falsely accusing a woman to be suspected of committing offences against him, not whether she ran over his foot, a special prosecutor says.
The floods also caused significant damage to British Columbia's agricultural land in Abbotsford, where more than 1,100 farms were under evacuation order or alert at the peak of the disaster. About 630,000 chickens, 420 cattle and 12,000 hogs died in the floods.
Mayor Ken Sim has joined criticism of a report commissioned by the Vancouver Police Department that concludes $5 billion a year is being spent on the city's "social safety net. The $142,000 report by Alberta-based HelpSeeker Technologies says the spending includes $1 million a day in the Downtown Eastside.
The fundraiser radiothon started taking pledges from donors at 6:00 am and went on till 10:00 pm on Tuesday, Nov 8th, 2022. Thousands of people made their pledges over the phone, and hundreds walked into the RED FM studio to donate money.
