Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased to know that several of my colleagues will be able to enjoy my comments in support of the legislation designating April as Sikh heritage month.

I have already had the opportunity to express my support for this bill, which was introduced by my colleague, the hon. member for Surrey—Newton, who, need I remind hon. members, is not only an engineer, but also has the title of Fellow. I congratulate him. I was there when he was recognized as such. Like the Sikh community, engineers contribute to building our society.

Since this is the second time I speak on this subject, I would simply like to reiterate that I had given the example of my colleague from Markham—Unionville, who came to Canada when he was 21. He earned $2 an hour at the time, and his only day off during his first year here was on July 1, which was then called Dominion Day and later became Canada Day.

He is an example of someone who arrived here and became fully integrated, as have the thousands of members of the Sikh community who have come here over the past 100 years. Naturally, since they came from Asia, they mostly settled in British Columbia. Now, they are branching out across the country.

I want to remind members that Canada has the second-largest Sikh population in the world, after India. There are nearly half a million Sikhs here in Canada. Sikhism is practised by several million people around the world but has been established in Canada for about 100 years.

As Remembrance Day, November 11, approaches, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First World War, I want to talk about how Sikhs have always been at our side in both good and bad times.

Before that, I would also like to commend the members of the heritage committee and the chair, the member for Toronto—Danforth, for making the bill pass through committee unanimously. Indeed, while we do not see it in the news as much, not all of what happens in Ottawa is partisan. People see mostly question period and think we are always fighting with each other, but recognizing and celebrating Sikh heritage and the contributions of Canadian Sikhs is one of those issues we all agree on.

The former NDP leader, Ed Broadbent, used to say that with the configuration of this room, we tend to fight and discuss what divides us, which is probably around 20%, but we never talk about the 80% that unites us. We are all here tonight in this room to talk about something that unites us. Maybe some of my colleagues would prefer to be in another room, but I am glad they are here tonight to share with us the discussion on the bill.

Recently I was happy to see my former cabinet colleague, Jason Kenney, who is now having a very successful political career in Alberta, along with Calgary's Sikh leaders, such as Captain Kamal Singh Dullat, and the community at large host an event honouring the contribution of Canadian Sikhs to Canada's military in its many missions for good and peace throughout our history.

My colleague from Markham—Unionville related the contributions of an individual. Now we can celebrate this as part of our Canadian heritage, in this case Canadian Sikhs in the armed forces' engagements, because there is an exhibition, organized by Pardeep Singh Nagra. He is the executive director of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada. This exhibition is going to go to other parts of the country as well.

What an amazing initiative it is, especially at this time, when we are willing to recognize in our law the contributions of the Sikh community. Mr. Nagra and the Sikh community were involved not only in the contributions by members of their community but also in linking it to one of the defining moments in our history, the involvement of Canada in the First World War. Canadian Sikh contributions to our military go as far back as the First World War 100 years ago.

That brings me to the same story that was shared by my colleague tonight of Buckam Singh. Buckam, known on his headstone as “Bukkan”, Singh was born in Punjab, India in December 1893. He was born in a place called Mahilpur. He came to Canada in 1907 at the age of 14 and became a miner in British Columbia before moving to Toronto around 1912 or 1913. He was, as we can see, very young when he immigrated to Canada, much younger than my colleague from Markham—Unionville, who was already in his twenties.

At that time, Buckam Singh was already married, but because of harsh immigration laws, he could not bring his bride with him. In 1915, Singh enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was working as a farmhand in Rosebank, Ontario, when he was called to active service and joined the 20th Battalion. His last service was with the 28th Battalion, according to his headstone.

Singh was wounded twice in separate battles and is said to have been treated by Dr. John McCrae. This is where the Sikh community made Canadian history, with a big “H”. John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields. He was a lieutenant-colonel then, a soldier, a physician and a poet.

We are about to commemorate Remembrance Day and we know how special the link is between politicians and those who fight for us overseas and protect our country, values and democracy. I would like to pay tribute to Buckam. He died a short while after the war. He was sent to a hospital in England to be repatriated to Canada and while there contracted tuberculosis. He died in a Kitchener, Ontario, hospital in August 1919, less than a year after the war. He was buried in Kitchener’s Mount Hope Cemetery and was a recipient of the Victory Medal. This is just one example of how patriotic this individual was. He arrived here at an early age, as I mentioned, served his country and adopted the country with great pride.

He was treated by John McCrae, so allow me to read In Flanders Fields:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

This is the first verse of this great poem, and certainly one of the greatest pieces of poetry in the world, that is very meaningful to us. There is a link now in Canada's history between John McCrae and a Sikh hero. There are other members of the Sikh community alongside Buckam Singh who fought in the First World War, but I felt it was important to mention that this single individual, who received the Victory Medal, was treated by John McCrae.

I want to reiterate that Conservatives fully support this motion for Sikh heritage month in Canada.

Steven Blaney

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