It is #SikhHeritageMonth and this is the story of Sikhs gaining the vote!
The first Sikh immigrants to British Columbia were permitted to vote in civic elections. This right to vote would not last long as the province began to strip rights away from the Sikh people.
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In March 1907, BC Premier William Bowser introduced legislation to deny the provincial vote to any immigrant from India who was not of Anglo-Saxon descent.
Vancouver took the vote away from Sikhs the following month.
The Sikh people couldn't vote federally either.
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At the 1921 Imperial Conference in England, a resolution was passed to grant South Asians in the British Empire the right to vote.
Canada simply ignored the resolution.
Some MPs, like Samuel Jacobs, Canada's 1st Jewish MP, supported giving Sikhs the vote.
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In 1924, BC passed the Provincial Elections Act to deny the vote to all Asians except Japanese veterans of WW1.
Men such as Dr. D.P. Pandia (pictured), Kapoor Singh Siddoo, Mayo Singh & Kartar Singh Hundal campaigned to get the vote for Sikhs and others.
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In the 1940s, Sikhs, such as Naginder S. Gill (pictured) continued to pressure the government to grant the vote to South Asians.
India PM Jawaharial Nehru joined the cause of gaining the vote.
On April 2, 1947, South Asians gained the provincial & federal vote.
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Tom Sukanen went through a lot of pain and heartache after he came to North America.
One day he decided to build a ship by hand on his Saskatchewan homestead. He hoped he could use it sail home to Finland.
This is the tragic story of the man they called The Crazy Finn.
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Tom Sukanen was born in 1878 in Finland. In 1906, he married Sanna Rintala. Two years later, he sailed to the United States to start a homestead in Minnesota. He left the pregnant Sanna in Finland. She joined him at the homestead a year later.
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To bring in extra money, Tom worked in the local mines. It is believed he tried to unionize the miners, partly to help support his family that now included a boy and three girls.
One night, his home was burned to the ground in retaliation for his union efforts.
Lester B. Pearson was born on this day in 1897.
He served as Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968, so let's look at his life in pictures!
Pearson (bottom right) with brothers Marmaduke and Vaughan, mother Anne, father Edwin and grandfather Marmaduke.
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Lester B. Pearson during his time as a soldier in the First World War. He served as a flying officer in the Royal Flying Corps. His instructor called him "Mike" as he believed "Lester" was too mild a name for a pilot.
Mike remained a nickname for the rest of his life.
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Lester B. Pearson playing hockey for Oxford in Murren, Switzerland in 1921. Swiss players called him Herr Zig-Zag.
Throughout the federal election campaign, I am looking at elections from Canada's past.
Today, it is the 1968 election.
This election saw new leaders for the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives but it is best known for what is now called Trudeaumania.
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After Canada's Centennial Year of 1967, Lester B. Pearson announced he was retiring.
A leadership race was held and on April 6, 1968, which was won by Pierre Trudeau on the fourth ballot.
Trudeau was the former Minister of Justice, who was first elected in 1965.
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Trudeau was seen as a fresh face in politics. He drove a Mercedes convertible, was athletic and was often greeted by screaming crowds wherever he went.
It became known as Trudeaumania.
For many Canadians, when they are not feeling well, Canada Dry Ginger Ale is part of the recovery and always within arm's reach.
But who created Canada Dry, why does it have a crown, and why is it called "Canada Dry"?
This is the story of the ginger beverage!
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The story of Canada Dry begins with John J. McLaughlin, a pharmacist from Enniskillen, Ontario. He was the son of Robert McLaughlin, founder of the McLaughlin Carriage and McLaughlin Motor Car.
In 1890, John was working at a soda factory in Brooklyn, New York.
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He left the factory to open his own carbonated water plant in Toronto.
In 1904, he created Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale. The drink was immediately popular and in 1907 the drink was appointed to the Viceregal Household of the Governor General of Canada.
On this day in 1992, David Milgaard was released from prison.
He spent over two decades imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. His mother Joyce never gave up on him and fought for his release.
This is the story of the man who inspired the song Wheat Kings.
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David Milgaard was born on July 7, 1952 in Winnipeg.
In January 1969, he was in Saskatoon with his friends Ron Wilson and Nichol John on a trip across Canada.
While visiting their friend Albert Cadrain, 20-year-old nursing student Gail Miller was found dead nearby.
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The assault and murder of Miller generated a lot of attention in the media. Police questioned sex offenders in the area but had no leads.
A month after the murder, Cadrain went to police and told them Milgaard was acting suspicious on the drive to Calgary.
On this day in 2022, Mike Bossy died.
Among his many accomplishments, his 0.76 Goals-Per-Game Average remains a record to this day.
He is considered by some to be the greatest natural goal scorer in NHL history.
This is the story of Mike Bossy.
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Mike Bossy was born in Montreal on Jan. 22, 1957, the fifth son in a family of ten children.
As a child, he had a backyard rink he practiced on. In 1969, he played in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, and then joined Laval National of the QMJHL.
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In five seasons, he scored 309 goals and 562 points in 264 games with Laval, but was called "not rugged enough" and defensively weak by scouts.
In the 1977 NHL Draft, 12 teams passed him over. The Rangers and Maple Leafs passed on him twice.