PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

CANADIAN SIKHS

2001-02-20

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg—Transcona, NDP) moved:  

That this House recognize the importance of April 13 to all Sikhs and the contributions that Canadian Sikhs have made to our country, and that this House also recognize the importance of the five K's: the KIRPAN—a sword representing indomitable spirit; KES—unshorn hair, representing a simple life, saintliness and devotion to God; KARA—a steel bangle worn as a sign of the eternity of God; KANGA—a wooden comb worn to represent a clean mind and body; and KACHA—short breeches, representing hygienic living.

He said: Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me today to bring this motion before the House for debate and hopefully even for passage at the end of the hour.

The motion that is before the House today is a motion that was originally passed by the Manitoba legislature on July 13, 1999 with the support of all parties in that house. It was with the intention or the hope that this motion might also pass this House that I brought it forward at the request of the Sikh community.

It was with that in mind that I sought to have this motion made votable when I appeared before the subommittee on private members' business. However, since it was not chosen as votable, now we are only debating it. I am still hopeful that perhaps we might find our way to passing the motion.

There are three dimensions to the motion. The first one is recognizing the importance of April 13, the festival of Vaisakhi, which is the anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa.

The second dimension is recognizing the contribution of Canadian Sikhs to Canada.

The third dimension is recognizing the importance of the five K's: the kirpan, the kes, the kara, the kanga and the kacha to the Sikh community.

I begin with April 13, the anniversary of the day in 1699 when Sikhism's last guru, Guru Gobind Singh created the brotherhood of the Khalsa. The brotherhood was built on the sense of community that Sikhism's first guru, Guru Nanak, established much earlier when he started among other things the tradition of the community kitchen, or the Langar which continues to this day. The Langar is such a great practical symbol of the egalitarian spirit that permeates the Sikh tradition. It is a spirit of equality that extends to men and women and which distinguished Sikhism from the values of the caste system long before it became popular to do so in any modern sense of the word.

The story of Sikhs in Canada, according to a book I am reading about Canadian Sikhs and written by Narindar Singh, probably goes back to Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897 when Sikh regiments passed through Canada on their way to London. They passed through again in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII.

By 1903 Sikh immigration to Canada had begun. Between 1903 and 1908 nearly 6,000 Sikhs entered Canada, most of them travelling directly from their village in the Punjab to British Columbia. Unfortunately, their arrival in B.C. was greeted with opposition in many quarters. There were Vancouver members of parliament and the mayor of Vancouver who called for a ban on further immigration of Sikhs.

In April 1907 Sikhs were denied the right to vote in B.C. and laws were passed prohibiting Asians from entering the professions, serving on juries, obtaining government contracts, and buying property in some parts of Vancouver. The recently arrived Sikhs were included in this category and therefore these laws also affected them, although they were not directed only at them.

To make a long story short, Sikhs were eventually prevented from entering Canada by virtue of the continuous journey mechanism that flowed from the then deputy minister of labour, a man by the name of William Lyon Mackenzie King. The consequence of this was that Sikh immigration did not resume until the late 1940s with the exception of the wives and children of people who were already here.

Sikhs were employed in many jobs, but they were employed mainly in the sawmills of British Columbia. An almost exclusively male community until 1920, they maintained their sense of community and tradition by living together, supporting each other and gathering in their gurdwaras or temples. I am pleased to now have two in my riding, the Khalsa Diwan Society Temple and the Guru Nanak Darbar Temple. The Khalsa Diwan Society was formed in B.C. in 1907 for the protection of Sikhs in Canada.

In 1913 the worst incident of anti-Sikhism in Canada occurred when the ship the Komagata Maru arrived in Vancouver on May 21, 1913 and was kept from landing for two months and then was eventually sent away. This is a story that I do not have the time to tell in great detail, but the details are both fascinating and embarrassing in this day of multiculturalism, human rights and racial and religious tolerance and pluralism.

Given this early experience of Sikhs in this country, we should be all the more pleased with the attachment that so many Sikh Canadians feel today for Canada. We should be all the more pleased to recognize, through the passage of this motion and speaking to this motion, the great contribution they went on to make to all of Canada, as Sikhs immigrated to provinces other than British Columbia and made their mark in many Canadian cities in all walks of life.

Certainly in my own city, the Sikh community has made a tremendous contribution to the growth, development and the nature of the city of Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a city that has always prided itself on its diversity.

Sikhs in Winnipeg have certainly enriched and enhanced that diversity by bringing to it the values that emanate from their way of life and their religion: the values of equality, social responsibility, community service and the importance of family. It is an ethic that resonates with the values that Canadians want to uphold as Canadians, no matter what their origin or religion.

It is in this spirit that I urge members of the House to contribute their own comments to the debate on this particular motion and to consider whether or not at the end of the debate we might find our way through to passing the motion.

I am not going to take up all my time because I believe there should be an opportunity for as many members as possible to contribute to this particular debate. I will finish by reciting words often heard in gurdwaras across the country and which I have had occasion to utter myself when speaking to Sikh congregations in my riding:

Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh

 

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg—Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking all members of the House who have contributed to this debate. It is the kind of debate that I had in mind when I put forward the motion. This is an opportunity for members from all parties to put on the record their views on the importance of April 13 with respect to the contribution of the Sikh community to Canada and with respect to the importance of the five Ks to the Sikh community.

I hope the Sikh community will be able to look back on this day, February 20, 2001, as a day when the Canadian parliament saw fit, not only to debate in a consensual and harmonious way this particular motion, but also, as I will very shortly request, to go beyond that and use the powers we have through unanimous consent to deem the motion votable and to pass it by unanimous consent, which is within our power to do so.

I know it is somewhat unusual, and I apologize to the House for the unusual nature of the request, but it is not without precedent. I have seen it happen on a number of occasions when people felt that it was a special enough occasion for us to use that particular power. I think today is that kind of day.

Again I thank the hon. members who have spoken. I thank the person in Winnipeg, Mr. Kewal Singh, who initially suggested this to me as a measure that I might bring forward. I am very grateful that we see the kind of unanimity we have here. Everyone has spoken in favour of the motion.

If the motion passes, if we deem the motion votable and put the question, no particular burden, legislative or otherwise, will flow from this except that the Sikh community in this country will know that at this particular time in our history we were able to reflect on their history in Canada, to reflect on some of the things that were done that we wish had never been done, to reflect on many of the great things they have done in this country and finally to express ourselves as the House of Commons in the way that this motion suggests.

I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you seek unanimous consent to deem this motion votable. I am not exactly sure what the procedure is. I ask the House for unanimous consent that it be deemed votable and passed.

The Deputy Speaker: Does the hon. member for Winnipeg—Transcona have consent to present his motion?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

Some hon. members: No.

Mr. Gurmant Grewal: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The hon. member for Winnipeg—Transcona who put forward this motion before the House, Motion No. 32, asked for unanimous consent of the House to make this motion votable. I want to point out that the members of the Canadian Alliance said yes, and it was the Liberal members who said no.

The Deputy Speaker: The time provided for the consideration of private members' business has now expired. As the motion has not been designated a votable item, the order is dropped from the order paper.