More than half a million Sikh Canadians have a proud moment to celebrate as the Canadian Parliament has passed the Sikh Heritage Month Act, designating April as the Sikh Heritage Month across Canada for all times to come, enabling them to enhance Sikh awareness and organise Vaisakhi celebrations in a more grandiose manner.

After a legislative rigmarole of nearly eighteen months, the Bill c-376 seeking April to be Sikh Heritage Month moved on 19 October 2017, as a private member’s bill by the unassuming yet determined Surrey-Newton Member Parliament Sukhminder Singh Dhaliwal, popularly known as Sukh Dhaliwal, became law on 30 April 2019, after it received the royal assent.

The Bill received unanimous support in a vote in the House of Commons on November 7, 2018 and was passed in the Senate on April 11, 2019. When the Senate approved it, speaking to a section of the media in Canada, Sukh Dhaliwal attributed the historic occasion of the passage of the bill to the hard work and diligence of Sikh pioneers who reached Canada more than a century ago. The humble Sukh Dhaliwal said that it was his privilege to introduce this private member’s bill in Parliament.

Justin Trudeau has the proud privilege of being the Prime Minister of Canada at a time, when hate mongers are spreading their dragnet in many countries, but the Liberal-led government of Canada makes a remarkable show of acknowledging the  Sikh community and appreciating the need to build bridges across religions and cultures, thus becoming the first country in the world to declare April as the Sikh Heritage Month as an act of Parliament.

In multicultural Canada, this is not just a victory and joyous occasion for Sikh-Canadians, but all Canadians.  A hundred year story cannot be written, narrated or celebrated in isolation. It is the story of Sikh resilience and Canada’s large-hearted accommodating and unbiased social and political framework. Sikhs reached Canada more than a hundred years ago. Through sheer hard labour, diligence and piecing their personal and social life together, brick by brick, Sikhs have virtually made Canada their second motherland, after the Punjab.

WSO President Mukhbir Singh said, “The Sikh Heritage Month Act in Canada is a great way to conclude Sikh Heritage Month in 2019.   It provides an important opportunity for Canadian Sikhs to share and celebrate their faith and history with their neighbours. WSO congratulates MP Sukh Dhaliwal for his work in making the recognition of Sikh Heritage Month possible.”

The short bill, which is now an Act of Parliament mentions that Canada has the second-largest population of Sikhs. Canada’s Sikh population is second only to India where the cradle of the Sikhism in homeland Punjab lies. The Act recognizes the significant contributions that Sikh Canadians have made to Canada’s social, economic, political and cultural fabric, as well as the richness of the Punjabi language and culture and the Gurmukhi script.

The Sikh Heritage Month Act takes into account the religiosity, love and joy associated with the month of April across the Sikh world and promises that with its passage, Canada will provide an opportunity to reflect on, celebrate and educate future generations about the inspirational role that Sikh Canadians have played and continue to play in communities across the country.

In Canada, the first Sikh Heritage Month was celebrated in Ontario in 2013 and then in British Columbia in 2017. States and provinces across the United States have been celebrating April as Sikh Awareness Month for the past couple of years. Even the British Parliament did so this year. In all these places, it has been the result of resolutions and early day motions. In Canada, it is an Act of Parliament which will enable Sikhs to partake federal support to enhance Sikh awareness and celebrate Vaisakhi with more gusto and fervour.

Guru Nanak has blessed the Sikhs of Canada and of the world with this joyous occasion during the course of the 550 year celebrations of the First Master’s advent.