Gurdawara

Greetings from the Government of Canada!  It is an honour to be with you again.  This has been a landmark year in Sikh history, and in the history of Sikhs in Canada, a year of both great gains and losses.

It is said “Only a person, who always remembers death, knows how valuable and precious is the wealth of counted breaths, granted during a lifetime.” (Baba Nand Singh Ji Maharaj).  In that sense, this year is quite holy, mingling the sanctity of life and teaching with the memory of lives lost.

This year marked the 305^th anniversary of the Khalsa, which in this community was a joyous occasion interrupted by sadness, when three youths travelling to the Vaisakhi festival in Edmonton from Vancouver lost their lives.

This is also the four hundredth year since the compilation of the Saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.  This year, in April, one hundred and fifty copies of this holy scripture were brought from Amristar to places all over Canada – after arriving by air in Toronto and being met by many devout Sikhs and even the Prime Minister, Paul Martin.

This year marks the 105^th anniversary of Sikhs in Canada. And, it is the 20^th anniversary of the massacre in the golden temple. 

Sikhism has much to celebrate this year, and these occasions, like gems glittering in the moonlight, are perhaps all the more beautiful for the contrast of the shadows around them. 

The history of Sikhs in Canada wears much of this same bittersweet emblem.  You have been here a long time, and are now valued and respected members of and leaders in the community.  But at the turn of the last century you faced many obstacles which have taken most of the century to overcome.  Beginning with the immigration law that forbade anyone who came not by continuous journey, to the Mountie who was told to dispense with his turban or lose his job, the battle for a comfortable home in Canada has been long, but victorious.

Nowadays, this country prides itself on its religious and cultural diversity.  I think sometimes we politicians forget how hard to come by this National Mosaic really was, and who can really be said to have brought that ideal about. 

In a talk I gave in 1999, I remember mentioning that Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, and perhaps the most democratic of all.  The more I think about this statement the more certain I am of it’s truth, and the more conscious I am of the enormous contribution this group has made to not only our country, but our national ideals.

The value the Sikh faith places on truth, justice and equality, your devotion to hard work and community service reflect the very tenets of democracy.  The Sikh community in Canada has persevered here in a quiet, long, just fight for the human rights that your faith teaches belong to all of us.  And indeed, it has taken the country some time to catch up to your ideals.

The Sikh fight for rights and freedom for in this country has been carried out in a remarkable way.  Never did the community eschew its principles of love of peace. 

Who can better serve their community and their fellow humans than someone who believes that God is in within creation and in every one of us?  Who has the energy and devotion to serve their fellow humans with patience and generosity who does not treasure equality and truth?  With these principals in your hearts you consistently win the good fight without raising your sword (kirpan). 

It was a happy day for me when I saw the procession of 150 copies of Guru Garanth Sahib into Canada.  It made me feel that the country had finally earned the presence of Guru Garanth Sahib in her towns and cities.  Who can help but feel honoured and hopeful about our future, now that such a source of truth and wisdom has come to reside among us? 

Your presence in and devotion to the community is deeply felt and deeply valued, and the work you and other groups of non-European origin have done to gain the rights of minorities in Canada has been of huge moment in our national values and self-image.  It is because of your sacrifice and perseverance in making this country your own that Canada, with only a few pangs of conscience, can now call itself a multicultural nation.  A nation that loves equality is a nation blessed.