Surrey RCMP Sgt. Chad Greig told The VOICE on Monday that the male who was arrested last Saturday has been released on a promise to appear for a court date in the future. Charges have not yet been laid. The investigation is ongoing.
AT approximately 1:50 p.m. on Saturday (March 30), Surrey RCMP received a report of a male with a firearm in the area of the Newton Athletic Park at 7300 128th Street where a large sporting event was taking place.
A male was subsequently located and arrested for various offences and is presently in police custody.
The investigation is still in its early stages, but initial indications are that this is an isolated incident, there is no risk to the public and the weapon was an imitation.
Earlier, rumours swept through the City that some people had gone to the park and fired many shots, but police informed some media that was a false report. Hours later police finally issued a press release about the incident.
Anyone with further information who has not already spoken to police is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca.
THE International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is observed on March 21, to collectively work towards the elimination of all forms of racism and inequalities, was observed last week on March 21 at the 15th annual “Stop Racism” event at Langara.
The event was organized by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Asian Pulse TV and sponsored byphilanthropist Perminder Chohan, Managing Director of Desjardins Financial Security Independent Network. The event took place in a packed lecture hall and was moderated by Indira Prahst, Instructor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Langara College, and Asian Pulse TV’s Kamilla Singh. It was officially opened with an Aboriginal greeting and an opening prayer from well-respected Rosie White Elk, First Nations elder and medicine woman.
The first keynote speaker was Minnijean Brown-Trickey, world renowned civil rights activist, who is a political figure known as ”Little Rock Nine” and a Congressional Gold Medalist recipient. The second keynote address was delivered by RCMP Inspector Baltej Singh Dhillon, who was denied entry into the RCMP for refusing to remove his turban and eventually became the first RCMP officer to wear the turban on duty. He openly shared his experiences of racism, the courage he drew from his parents to continue to wear his turban in the RCMP and how he confronted racism.
(L-R, seated) Steve Rai, Shenan Charania, Sukhmeet Singh Sachal, Baltej Singh Dhillon, and Minnijean Brown-Trickey. (Standing) Kamilla Singh and Indira Prahst.
A panel followed, consisting of Deputy Police Chief of Vancouver, Steve Singh Rai, Shenan Charania,transformative leadership and performance coach for youth, and Sukhmeet Singh Sachal, founder of “Break the Divide.” The panelists had the common thread of sharing their personal experiences of racism and how they overcame it. This was followed by an engaging Q&A. Poetry slam artist and Langara student Jenifer Williams treated the audience to two powerful poems, leading to thunderous applause.
RCMP Inspector Baltej Singh Dhillon
Three awards of recognition of anti-racism work were given out to Fatima Jaffer, activist and photojournalist, Ray Goldenchild, soccer coach, and Jenifer Williams. There was also a draw for students for 10 cheques of $100 each towards books.
Among the dignitaries in attendance was Vancouver Councillor Peter Fry who spoke about the importance of remembering March 21 and shared his personal thoughts about racism coming from a mixed ethnic background. (He is the son of MP Hedy Fry.) Stepping in for Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan (MP for Vancouver South) was Constituency Assistant Eric Gustavson, who conveyed a powerful message. Dr. Ben Cecil, Provost and Vice President, Academic and Students, welcomed the guests to Langara and spoke on behalf the President of Langara, Lane Trotter, highlighting the importance of tackling racism.
Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Steve Rai
MLA Raj Chouhan and Sergeant Val Spicer, Diversity and Indigenous Relations Unit, were among those who attended. Premier John Horgan in a letter of support for the event commended the organizers and Langara for observing this day.
The event concluded with a message that “in current geopolitical climates where racial tension, Islamophobia, and violence continue to be motivated by hatred and fear, it is ever more urgent that we continue to observe this day and remind people that there is agency and humanity.”
Soccer coach Ray Goldenchild
(Write-up contributed / All photos courtesy of Armin Prahst and Boris Prahst)
[Photos below: (L-R) Perminder Chohan and Fatima Jaffer with others. / Sukhmeet Singh Sachal with his brother / Rosie White Elk / Minnijean Brown-Trickey / Peter Fry]
Series of events in April invite British Columbians to celebrate the arts, heritage and culture of Sikh Canadians
SIKH Heritage Month BC has launched a series of public awareness videos and premiere arts event – The Revival – to showcase the thriving arts and culture scene among Sikh youth in BC and educate British Columbians about BC’s diverse Sikh community.
“This last year showed us, as a community in BC and Canada, we continue to be vulnerable to harmful stereotypes and the people who are most harmed by them are our young people,” says Jasleen Sidhu, Vice-President of UBC and SFU Sikh Students Association and spokesperson, Sikh Heritage Month. “This is an opportunity for us to tell our own stories, celebrate our contributions and our community’s diversity – and share experiences with all British Columbians.”
Public awareness videos will also roll out over digital platforms that are designed to educate and raise awareness of the diversity that exists within the Sikh community, especially among those who chose to be visible Sikhs and wear the articles of the Sikh faith.
A series of videos demonstrate this diversity – from the experiences of Pat Singh Cheung, volunteer with Guru Nanak’s Free Kitchen to Jai Sanghera, a Canadian karate champion who secured the right for male athletes to compete internationally with a head covering.
“Sikh articles of faith are often misunderstood, even though Sikhs and their visible identities, have been a part of Canada for well over 100 years,” says Koml Kandola, Advisor, Sikh Heritage Month. “We want to take away the mystery and stereotypes surrounding Sikh identity and allow four different Sikh-Canadians to express how their distinct identity reflects their values and guides how they serve their communities.”
This weekend, Surrey City Hall will host The Revival – featuring the work of local artists, poets, musicians and authors, from March 30-31. The Revival focuses on how local Sikh-Canadian artists explore and reflect on their identities and seeks to bridge the gap between diasporic audiences and the classical Sikh arts. The event aspires to allow artists to showcase their work, while they explore different media and celebrate the growing Sikh arts community. Art by local artists will be on display and up for auction, with hundreds expected to take in the event over the course of two evenings.
“We received such a tremendous response last year that it encouraged us to grow the art exhibition this year to include more work by local artists, spoken word poetry and classical music,” said Danish Brar, Sikh Heritage Month organizing committee. Following the launch of The Revival, we are working with other community partners – from the South Asian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley to the Nameless Collective – to broaden the reach and appeal of our events.”
Historian and playwright Paneet Singh and Milan Singh will host “Histories, Mysteries and Mischief: A Walking Tour of Kitsilano” describing an era when sawmills and Sikh homes lined False Creek, and Sikh-Canadians faced key struggles such as retaining the right to vote, immigration reform, and labour unrest. Human rights advocacy group, the World Sikh Organization, hosts “KaursVote” to encourage the political participation of Sikh women at the local and national level. The Sikh Research Institute will host a #MeToo discussion. A Finale Gala on April 26 at Aria Banquet Hall will close off the month with a Kirtan (poetry sung to music) on Sunday April 28.
The series of videos launched today play a larger role in the public awareness campaign to decrease the exoticization of Sikh-Canadians and allow for the Sikhs to convey their own unique experience as Sikhs living in Canada. The series of videos are available on the Sikh Heritage Month BC website and mark the start of Sikh Heritage Month 2019.
Sikh Heritage Month events and the public awareness campaign will continue throughout April. Information on Sikh Heritage Month and partner events is on the website: sikhheritagemonthbc.ca
THE Ontario Sikh and Gurdwaras Council and the Ontario Gurdwaras Committee in partnership with the World Sikh Organization of Canada will be hosting a community meeting on April 7, 2-4 p.m., at Brampton City Hall (Atrium) located at 2 Wellington Street West, Brampton, on the inclusion of “Sikh (Khalistani) Extremism” in the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada.
Community members will be invited to discuss the impact this section has had on them and the image of Canadian Sikhs as whole. Members of Parliament and elected officials from across the Greater Toronto Area have also been invited to hear the conversations that will take place and also to provide an update to the community as to steps that have been taken to address the concerns that have been expressed and any results that have been achieved.
The 2018 Public Safety Report, which was met with widespread criticism for references to religious communities, included no particular details or evidence of any alleged rise in Sikh extremism in Canada and as such was offensive to Sikh Canadians. Despite a meeting of Sikh representatives with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale on January 21, no changes to the report have been made.
After over three months of waiting, the Sikh community continues to press for accountability and answers and this meeting will be a next step in calling for answers from the Government of Canada.
CONSERVATIVE Leader Andrew Scheer on Friday, reacting to the release of documents by Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former attorney general, to the Commons justice committee, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must resign.
A recording that Wilson-Raybould had secretly made of a call between herself and the Privy Council Clerk as well as emails, texts and her written statement were tabled to the committee.
In a statement, Scheer said: “These documents and recordings are concrete evidence that proves Justin Trudeau led a campaign to politically interfere in SNC-Lavalin’s criminal prosecution. He personally gave the orders and when the former Attorney General refused to follow them and break the law, she was fired.
“Ms. Wilson-Raybould repeatedly told the Prime Minister and his top officials that their actions were ‘entirely inappropriate’ and amounted to ‘political interference’. Despite her objections, the Clerk of the Privy Council pressured her and made it clear that her job was on the line.
“Justin Trudeau also told Canadians what he knew to be false. He knew that his Attorney General had serious concerns about his plan to get SNC-Lavalin off of serious criminal charges. But he looked Canadians in the eye and told them that no one had raised concerns with him. This is false and he owes Canadians an explanation.
“The entire SNC-Lavalin scandal is corruption on top of corruption on top of corruption. Two cabinet ministers have resigned on principle and both Justin Trudeau’s top political advisor and his top civil servant have resigned in disgrace. The Prime Minister has lost the moral authority to govern and must resign.”
Indo-Canadian Business Association of British Columbia’s (ICBABC) 20th Annual Student Achievement Awards on Friday, May 10.
The 2019 Scholarship applications are now well under way with deadline on Friday, April 12.
What: The ICBABC’s annual Student Achievement Awards support outstanding students as they further pursue their academic endeavors within a post-secondary institution. The vision of the awards program is to invest in and develop strong leaders who demonstrate academic excellence, community involvement, a moral force of character, instincts to lead, and commitment to intellectual and personal development.
Raise and distribute scholarship
13-15 scholarships
10 Scholastic awards
One Male Athletic and One Female Athletic Awards
One Special Needs Award
ICBABC is working with SFU for Punjabi Language full credit course since 2016 and committed to contribute total of $30,000 to promote and expand the Punjabi Language and culture programs.
The gala will include a speech by keynote speaker, awards presentation, and performances. We will be also recognizing outstanding companies like yours who have continued support for this worthy cause.
Tickets start at $50 single or a $350 for the table of 8, Program guide sponsors Full Page $1,000 + 4 event tickets, Half Page $600 + 2 event tickets and Students Sponsorships starts at $2500. More information can be obtained from www.icbabc.com
For event information and reservations contact directors:
Hardeep Shergill: 604.617.0076 or Rick Dhaliwal: 604.338.6999 or Amarjit Samra: 604.375.2220 or Lovepreet Sanghera: 778.319.4854 or Anoop Randhawa: 778.319.4639 or Gursharan Dhaliwal: 604.725.0134 or Jograj Randhawa: 778.829.2741 or Kanwalpreet (Kim) Trehan: 604.715.6773 or Jasvinder Singh (Jolly) Dhaliwal: 604.551.0014 or email info@icbabc.com.
MADILYN Harks, an offender was who was recently released into the City of Brampton and was residing in the Main Street and Queen Street area, was arrested on Friday by Peel Regional Police.
The arrest is a result of a joint effort between our Offender Management Unit, 22 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau and Correctional Services Canada.
Correctional Services Canada issued a warrant of suspension revoking the Long Term Supervision Order that Harks was bound by, allowing police to take Harks into custody. At this time no criminal charges have been laid.
On March 22, Peel Regional Police first made the community aware of a public safety concern regarding Harks. She had been subject to three sexual assault convictions against young girls under the age of eight and is at an elevated risk to reoffend.
Herb Dhaliwal (right) with Justin Trudeau.
Photo submitted
‘You need to have government by Cabinet. You had government by PMO’
BY RATTAN MALL
Herb Dhaliwal (right) with Justin Trudeau. Photo submitted
FORMER federal minister Herb Dhaliwal, who served in Jean Chretien’s Cabinet from 1997-2003, told The VOICE this week that among the steps that Justin Trudeau needs to take to get out of the political mess he’s in is to bring some new people into the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
He told me: “He had a lot of inexperienced young people who were probably very smart but didn’t have the wisdom and the experience and I think he’s got to make changes. He’s already made some changes – he’s actually made my former chief of staff George Young to liaison with the Caucus and I think it’s a sort of the first step to better manage his Caucus.”
Dhaliwal added: “I think they have learned that managing caucus is very important in politics and I think that’s one thing they didn’t really understand. So now they’ve made some changes.”
He said Trudeau has to decentralize power in the PMO because a few people started centralizing power in that office. “One of the things they can do is – as has traditionally been – have a regional minister. They never had a regional minister. So, of course, that gave more power to the people in the Prime Minister’s Office. They need to appoint a regional minister for each part of the country.”
Dhaliwal said: “The other thing I think is that he has to reach to the whole Liberal Party – Liberals from the past, Liberals from the present, Liberals of the future. And I think that’s one thing he’s not done well. He needs to do that because it’s important.”
He pointed out: “Remember they were all talking about Trudeau and the Team? They have to start talking about the Liberal Party. It’s a great political institution and they had forgotten the history of this party. So they need to now re-establish the strength of the larger Liberal Party – people from the past, people from the present and people who are going to come in the future. So that’s important.”
Herb Dhaliwal having lunch with Jean Chretien during his recent visit to Vancouver. Photo submitted
DHALIWAL bluntly noted: “They also have to get back to governing by Cabinet. The PMO people were trying to tell ministers what to do. I never had that problem when I was minister. And you need to have government by Cabinet. You had government by PMO and they need to change that.”
He added: “The other thing is that they used to have the Prime Minister’s Office attend the Liberal Caucus meeting. We never had that. There was a reason for that. Because Prime Minister Chretien wanted everybody to be open, upfront, to speak up and not to be afraid just because there were people from the Prime Minister’s Office. We never had people from the Prime Minister’s Office in the Liberal Caucus meeting – we never had that!”
Dhaliwal said: “So you have to manage Caucus better. It’s like having a board of 170 directors. You have to listen to them. You have to hear them out. You have to give them access to you. … It’s very important to manage them and I think they didn’t realize how important it was. Now they are learning how important it is to manage Caucus.
“The other thing in politics is you have to walk the talk. You can’t talk; you have to walk the talk. We talk about transparency. Let’s be transparent and tell it like it is. So they’ve mishandled this because they weren’t transparent, open from the beginning; they kept changing the story.”
Jody Wilson-Raybould
As reported in The VOICE, Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former justice minister, tweeted on February 12 that she had resigned from Cabinet. The MP for Vancouver-Granville, who was Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, tweeted a link to her resignation letter.
She was under tremendous pressure to give her version regarding a Globe and Mail report that she had been pressured by the Prime Minister’s Office to help Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution.
Jane Philpott,
On March 4, Jane Philpott, President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Digital Government, resigned from the Trudeau cabinet, stating that she had “been considering the events that have shaken the federal government in recent weeks,” referring to the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
Philpott tweeted: “It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them.”
DHALIWAL told me that he thinks that if Trudeau makes the changes he is suggesting, “he may be able to survive; otherwise, we’re looking at a minority government and maybe even a change.”
Dhaliwal stressed: “He has to re-establish his leadership and start governing by Cabinet, managing the Caucus better. I mean it’s unheard of that a minister resigns and they don’t even know. That’s a real lack of not understanding your Cabinet colleagues.”
He said: “They were totally surprised by [Philpott’s resignation] and you would think that if she was [resigning], the Prime Minister should have talked to her personally right away and brought her into his office and said ‘well, we need you. You can’t resign … Government needs you.’ … They should have started building a better relationship. I mean that’s part of the people around the Prime Minister – they shouldn’t get to the point where ministers are resigning and they don’t even know [what] they are upset about with the Prime Minister and the government.”
Dhaliwal then pointed to his own example when he was serving in Chretien’s Cabinet.
He related: “I wasn’t going to run the third time in politics. I had mentioned to one of my staff that I wasn’t going to run. You know the Prime Minister knew about it very quickly – within a few days he called me [and said] ‘I want to see you at 24 Sussex [the residence of the Prime Minister].’ When I was there, he said ‘look, I understand you are not interested in running next time.’ I said ‘yeah, I wanna get back to my business.’ He said ‘no, you have to run. I need you. It’s very important for you to run because if you don’t run, I could lose other seats and we need you to form government and you have to run.’ So I said ‘okay. There are a couple of conditions. One is after two years if I want to leave, you will allow me to leave politics.’ He said ‘fine.’ And I said ‘I’d like to have an economic portfolio.’ He said ‘fine, Done!’ And once he shook hands, that was it.”
Dhaliwal said the PMO people should have known that Philpott was so upset that she was going to resign and they should have been trying to resolve the issue.
He added: “So I think if he makes some of those changes he could recover from this. He has to start taking advice from experienced people who’ve been there, done that. And in the past, unfortunately, he hasn’t.”
AMENDMENTS to the Insurance (Vehicle) Regulation clarify changes to ICBC benefits and processes that come into effect Monday, April 1 for people who are injured in motor vehicle accidents, the Province announced on Friday.
The amended regulation states:
* people who are injured in motor vehicle accidents on or after April 1, 2019, are eligible for increased limits in disability benefits, funeral expenses and death benefits;
* people can also receive increased medical and rehabilitation benefits starting April 1, 2019, even if their injuries were sustained before that date; and
* they can recover costs for necessary medication.
The amendments establish a 60-day time limit for people to submit receipts for medical care or rehabilitation expenses to ICBC.
Previously, people had up to two years to submit their expenses to ICBC. The long limitation period made it difficult for ICBC to determine if expenses were reasonable and necessary when they were incurred. This left people at risk of spending significant amounts of money on expenses that could be ineligible for reimbursement.
The new limit gives people a reasonable amount of time to submit their receipts while ensuring ICBC receives the information it needs to accurately assess the severity of claims, provide additional supports to injured people as needed and better forecast future costs. Exceptions may be allowed in cases where people cannot meet the deadline due to the nature of their injuries or other factors, said the Province.
RCMP announced on Friday morning that they have notified the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) and the BC Coroners Service of a police-involved shooting in Surrey which has resulted in a death.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. on March 28, the Surrey RCMP responded to a residence in the 13300-block of 98A Street after a report of man with a gun and a possible hostage situation. Frontline officers attended and evacuated a number of individuals from nearby homes and properties. A containment area was established and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team attended to assist the investigation.
RCMP said that multiple efforts were made throughout the night and into the morning to engage the barricaded male and a female hostage within the home in order to peacefully resolve the situation.
At approximately 7:30 a.m., members of the Emergency Response Team entered the home and a confrontation with the barricaded male ensued. The male sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at scene. A female victim was also located within the home with serious injuries. First aid was immediately provided by the officers and the woman was taken to hospital by Emergency Health Services, which were staged nearby throughout the incident. Despite medical efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at hospital.
No police officers or any other members of the public were injured.
The scene and any evidence have been secured, and the Independent Investigation Office of BC has been notified and are deploying to the scene. IIO BC will assume conduct of the investigation into the police-involved shooting to see if there is any link between police actions and the man’s death.
Police said that as the matter is now under investigation by the IIO BC, no further information will be released by them.
All aspects and circumstances of this incident will be the subject of an independent investigation and verification by the IIO BC.
