A Witness to the Journey from Past to Present.

Paul Singh Dhaliwal, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday (May, 2014), first came to Canada in the year 1932. Paul’s father was the first out of the family to come to Canada in the year 1908 and he played an integral role in the building of the now Historic Gur Sikh Temple on South Fraser Way in 1911. Paul’s father returned to his home in India in 1914 and would not return to Canada dying at a very young age from the plague. This, it would be Paul’s Uncle, Bhagwan Singh, who would sponsor Paul to Canada in the year 1932 by claiming that Paul was his own son.

Paul’s journey from Punjab, India to Canada involved many steps. First, he travelled from his village Chananwal to Calcutta-which took twenty two days. From Calcutta Paul took the ship to Hong Kong, and at Hong Kong he would have to wait another two weeks before a CPR ship would take him from Hong Kong to Canada. Paul, like most other travelling Indian migrants, was not able to bring many possessions with him. Thus, he carried only his tin trunk and a mattress and quilt. Upon his arrival to Canada, and from his port of landing in Victoria Paul took a small boat to come to Vancouver where he halted for three days and then got a ride to Abbotsford where he joined his uncle.  During his three day stay in Vancouver, Paul stayed at the original and very first Gurdwara built in the Americas-the West 2nd Avenue Temple. As soon as he was in Abbotsford, one of the first things he did was to visit the Abbotsford Gur Sikh temple. He stayed with his uncle Bhagwan for a month and then moved to a lumber company based in Squamish, an area then known as Green Lake. Following his stint at the Lumber Company, he moved back to Abbotsford, and later to Vancouver where he settled for about six years.

Paul was a large, strong and sturdy man and for a brief stint in his life, even pursued the notion of becoming a professional wrestler. After training in the early 1940’s, Paul was noticed by American promoter Ted Thia, who encouraged him to pursue a wrestling career. However, instead of choosing that career path, Paul opted to return to Punjab, India and marry his future wife, Mrs. Surinder Kaur Dhaliwal. As such, Paul went back to India in the year 1947, when he got married and stayed until 1949. He returned to the city of Mission in the year 1950, where his six children were born. Paul would sponsor Surinder Kaur to come to Abbotsford in October 1950 and together they would continue to forge their lives in Abbotsford and the valley.

According to Paul, life was very different during those times, and required more physical effort to sustain oneself. “I have struggled all my life. But especially in those days all of them had to struggle very hard to sustain themselves”, says Paul smilingly. Paul worked for 10 cents an hour at the saw mill and there was no help from the government. He stresses on the fact that life has become very easy to live now. There was a mill that moved away from Mission. It seems that the mill owners first said that they will move the mill upstream and a ferry will take the workers there. But after six months the company sent letters to the workers notifying them about the closure of the mill. Mill workers, many of whom were from the Sikh community were left with no work. That was a very tough time for the community, according to Paul. Many moved to Abbotsford, which greatly helped the community.

Paul nostalgically says, “during those times every one knew each other in Abbotsford and Mission and we were very fond of each other.” Paul is proud at the progress made by the community. He adds proudly, “later on, our kids studied and were admitted universities and did very well for themselves.”

“I would like the whole of Canada to know about this Gur Sikh temple,” says Paul. “Everyone around the world should know, learn and able to see through this Gur Sikh temple, our history of success.” An honest man, Paul has worked very hard in his life. He believes that Waheguru has been very kind to him and the Sikh community and as such, is also a firm believer that the community should always listen to Sikh Gurbani and respect ones elders.

Harnek Singh Gill

October 11, 2020

Harnek Singh Gill passed away at Christine Morrison Hospice on Oct 11, 2020. 

He is survived by his Daughter, Robin Gill-Chaudhary (Navdeep), Grandsons Nikhail and Naythan, and several other family. 

Harnek was born in Chananwal, Punjab, India and came to Canada at the age of 14 in 1950. Harnek's father, Puran Singh Gill, immigrated to Canada in 1924. Harnek and his family are pioneers of the Indo Canadian community in Great Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

He married in 1963 to Joginder Kaur Gill and settled in Mission, BC where his family has lived over 60 years. Harnek worked in the lumber industry for 50 years at Herman Saw Mills, Whonock Lumber and Hammond Lumber.

Harnek was blessed with two children Billy and Robin, both born and raised in Mission and contributing to the Mission community. Harnek and his family suffered a huge loss in 1985 when his son, Billy Gill, was tragically killed in a car accident. Although, Harnek never fully recovered from this loss, he went on to do more to give back and help those in need. 

Harnek opened the Billy Gill Memorial Hospital in his home town of Chananwal in India and also helped in opening the Billy Gill Memorial Weight Room at Mission Senior Secondary, he also started the Billy Gill Top Student Award at MSS.

Harnek helped support the Billy Gill Tennis Tournament which ran close to fifteen year in the Fraser Valley. He contributed to the Missionaries of Charities and many other charitable foundations. 

Harnek's life changed after many years when he was blessed with his two grandsons, Nikhail and Naythan. Harnek lost his wife on November 29, 2018 and shortly after his health deteriorated. Harnek was a healthy and active person, he constantly walked all over the streets ofMission where many people would see him up until he fell. He suffered a serious brain injury which slowly led to his decline.

He no longer was able to receive the care he needed at home and was now a resident at TRIM. Harnek fought and tried to stay as independent as he could till the very end. He will forever be remembered and missed by his family and friends. He has returned home to his loving wife and beloved son. 

Rest In Peace Dad and Nana. We love you.

Gurbaksh Singh Dhaliwal

Gurbaksh Singh Dhaliwal was born on August 28, 1934 in the village of Chananwal, district Sangrur, Punjab. He arrived in Mission, BC on October 27, 1948 and was accompanied by his mother, Gurdev Kaur Dhaliwal and uncle, Balwant Singh Dhaliwal. The family came to join his father Hari Singh Dhaliwal, who by then had a well-established trucking business in Mission called “Paul Brothers Wood and Saw Dust.” Hari Singh Dhaliwal owned about ten to eleven trucks at that time. Hari Singh and his cousin Paul Singh Dhaliwal had immigrated to Canada in 1926 because of their grandfather’s brother, Bhagat Singh Dhaliwal. Bhagat Singh was the first in the family to have come to Canada in 1908.

Upon arrival, Gurbaksh Singh was enrolled in the seventh grade at Mission High. Being the youngest out of the other ten Indian children at school, he often felt very lonely and out of place primarily because of the language barrier. However, with the help of his teachers he was able to ease into the Canadian school system and learn to speak English. Unfortunately, Gurbaksh Singh had to drop out after grade 11 due to his father’s health problems.

During his school years, Gurbaksh Singh obtained summer jobs working at saw mills in Mission, Lake Cowichan, and Honeymoon Bay. Since he was a student, he received a pay of 75 cents an hour, unlike the IWA (International Woodworkers Association) members who earned $1.00 per hour. While working with the Western Forest Industry for 40 hours a week, Gurbaksh managed to save $350.00 that summer. However, after his father became ill, he took over the family business and became a truck driver, which he continued to do from 1952 to 1963.

In 1948, Mission was a very diverse community with many immigrant groups settled there. Gurbaksh Singh’s family owned eight lots of property on Horne Avenue (25ft/lot), which included their house and five shops. These shops were rented out to several other immigrant settlers such as French, Polish and Czech people to establish businesses. The shops consisted of a repair shop, restaurant, office, store for selling and repairing power saws and a store for sharpening them. In 1968, the property was sold to the city of Mission for the construction of the Mission bridge.

Gurbaksh Singh explains that in 1948, the population of Punjabi’s in Canada was very small. There were four bachelors in Toronto and two families in Calgary (the Harry and Rama family). There were approximately four or five families in Kamloops, three in Chilliwack, one in Agassiz, two to three in Abbotsford, four to five in Mission and the rest of the population was in New Westminster, Vancouver, and Vancouver Island. At that time, the total population throughout Canada was 1800 Punjabi’s, according to Gurbaksh Singh.

In June 1957, Gurbaksh Singh returned to India for the first time after his father urged him to settle down and get married. On August 14, 1957 Gurbaksh Singh married Prit Mohinder Kaur Grewal. However, Gurbaksh Singh’s trip was cut short because he had to return to Canada due to his father’s death on October 5, 1957. Prit Mohinder Kaur was able to join her husband and mother-in-law a few months later in January 1958.

Now settled in Mission, Gurbaksh Singh and Prit Mohiner Kaur started their family. On July 9, 1958 the couple was blessed with their daughter, Hardeep Kaur Dhaliwal. Two years later, on December 9, 1960, their son Harvey Singh Dhaliwal was born. The youngest son, Pooma Singh Dhaliwal was born on February 3, 1962.

Gurbaksh Singh left trucking in 1963 and sold his three trucks to the “Fraser Valley Pulp” for $5000, the same price that his father paid for the trucks years earlier. He then began working for the “Watkins Saw Mill” until 1967. Later, he worked and became a shareholder and a Board of Director with the “Canadian Plywood Company” in New Westminster. In 1968, the family moved out to Surrey because their property in Mission was purchased by the highway commission to build the bridge. The “Canadian Plywood Company” later closed down and Gurbaksh Singh started to work for the “Acorn Forest Industry.” Then in 1989, he was offered a pension plan to retire since the company was closing down. After retiring, he worked in a security company for eight years, and officially retired in 1999.

Gurbaksh and Prit Mohinder still live in Abbotsford, B.C along with Gurbaksh’s mother Gurdev Kaur. The Dhaliwal family is still very involved with the Fraser Valley community and is very pleased 

Mohinder Singh Gill

Posted at 16:08h in Pioneer Interviews by sharn

Mohindar (‘Moe’) Singh Gill was born on November 12, 1943 in the village of Chananwal, Punjab, India. He came to Canada as a young boy in October 1955 with his mother and younger sister. They took a plane from Calcutta and came through Hawaii and onwards directly to Vancouver. Moe’s father, Major Singh Gill had already been in Canada for four years before Moe’s arrived with his mother and sister. Originally, Moe’s grandfather Puran Singh Gill had come to Canada in 1923 to attend the University of British Columbia as a business student. He was one of the only two Indo-Canadian students that arrived in Canada who were given permission to take courses at the University. Puran Singh, along with the other student had travelled by boat from Calcutta to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to San Francisco and then they had taken a train up the westcoast to Vancouver. Puran Singh took business courses but was unable to complete his education due to a lack of funding.  Puran Singh lived in Vancouver during this time but after leaving University he moved to Vancouver Island.

Puran Singh sponsored his wife Prem Kaur and three sons, Takur, Harnek and Modhun in 1950 to join him in Canada. Moe Gill’s father, Major Singh was not one of them as he was over the age limit of dependent children who could travel with a mother. Puran Singh later filed an application for his son Major Singh to join them under a special circumstance law. The immigration department in Ottawa had fifty two pending applications of the people who had applied but weren’t allowed to join their family in Canada. The Gills were lucky because at that time Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India had made an official delegation trip to Canada in 1949.  At this time a delegation from Vancouver went to Ottawa by train to have a meeting with Nehru requesting him to convince the Federal Government to release these applications and process them. The talks were successful and as a result Major Singh, among scores of others were allowed to come to Canada.  Puran Singh also served as President of the Khalsa Diwan Society Abbotsford’s heritage gurdwara for 10 years. Puran Singh had become known for his writing skills when he used to live in a “cook house” (bunk room style housing on mill sites) on Vancouver Island with other bachelor men.  It was Puran Singh who did much of the letter writing for all the other men that lived in the cook house.  As a result, when he became the President of the Gur Sikh Temple in Abbotsford, he did much of the same thing, like the paperwork for the society, etc.

In 1955 the Gill family moved to Mission because Puran Singh got a new job, while Major Singh began working for Paul Dhaliwal, another prominent pioneer at the time. Moe and his younger uncle went to the same elementary school because they had only a four year difference between them. Both Moe and his Uncle were joined at school by Surjit, Moe’s younger sister. Surjit was four years younger than Moe and in 1956 his sister, Amar Kaur was born in Mission hospital.

Although Moe should have been in grade five according to his Indian schooling records, the school in Mission enrolled him back to grade two. This was a common occurrence within the Canadian educational system where the underlying assumption was that people educated abroad don’t meet Canadian standards. Moe remembers enjoying his time playing in the playground in Mission located at 7th Avenue. One day, Moe came to know that the baseball team in the local playground was one person short so they asked him to join in. There were only European decent children in the game and he was the only Indo-Canadian child. In fact, the entire school had only six Indo-Canadian boys and two Indo-Canadian girls. After completing elementary school Moe attended high school but was unable to finish his schooling because he became ill with a chronic cough. Although he left school at this time, Moe still completed his Grade 11 through correspondence.

For his first job, Moe worked for two years at the ‘Harman Sawmill’ as a stack boy where he was paid $0.90cents an hour, which was later was raised to $1.10. Moe then worked for twelve years for the Whonnock Lumber Company located in nearby Maple Ridge. At the time, the Whonnock Lumber Company wasn’t hiring any Indo-Canadians because earlier one of the Indo-Canadian employees had gotten into a confrontation with the superintendent. The superintendent, being very upset refused to hire any more Indo-Canadians. By hiring Moe, this unwritten rule was now broken. Moe did almost everything at the Whonnock sawmill except sawing lumber; his tasks included training and working as a grader. Interestingly enough, both Major Singh and Puran Singh had worked in the same company prior to Moe, making it as a site for three generations of the Gill family’s employment.

In January 1969, Moe and his mother went back to India where he married Jagdish Cheema in April. He came back and filled an application for his wife and she arrived in Canada soon after in September 1969. They had a son Paul in 1974, who formerly worked with BCTV as a film editor, and a daughter Pala in 1976, who is a school teacher at Eugene Reimer Middle School in Abbotsford. In the same year that Pala was born, Puran Singh, the Gill family patriarch passed away.

In 1975 Moe and Major Singh purchased a 10 acre raspberry farm located on Huntington road in Abbotsford which was worth $115,000 at that time. Moe quit his job at this time and began working on the farm alongside his father Major Singh.  A few years later the entire family moved to Abbotsford from Mission and in 1978 built a new house on their farm. Because of his ownership of a vibrant local farm, Moe also became involved in the local agricultural associations. The first of these was called the Cole Crop Growers Association. In his role at the Association, Moe was eventually able to bring the Association into the BC Marketing Board.

Whilst Moe’s children attended Abby Senior School after finishing their elementary schooling at South Popular School, George Perry (former Mayor of Abbotsford) was their Principal. Moe became good friends with George and eventually decided to run in the local Abbotsford municipal election for first time in 1986 but did not win. From this point on, local community members began rallying around Moe and encouraging him to try again in the next election. As a result, Moe ran four more times but lost each time. Despite these initial losses, Moe refused to lose his spirit and eventually won the sixth time.  During this time in Moe’s life just as he was beginning to see such immense success, his mentor, guide, and father, Major Singh passed away in 1993. Soon after, after Moe won his first election, his mother also passed away. Moe Singh Gill was elected in December 1995 as the first Indo-Canadian councillor in the City of Abbotsford, BC. Since 1995 he has successfully run for office and won a seat every time. His last term on Council was before the 2018 election. Moe has always been an influential community member and advocate for the City of Abbotsford.

When reflecting on his wonderful family history and the family’s contribution to community, Moe Gill says “I look at the community to be the ‘whole’ community, being the best community in Canada and the best community in BC.  That’s what you want from your community. You want your community to be successful not only in one area, but all areas they venture into.  That’s what you want.” Certainly, the family legacy of Puran Singh Gill, Major Singh Gill, and Mohan Singh Gill is testament to the contributions of the Gill family in building better communities for all.

Gurdev Singh Dhaliwal

Posted at 18:30h in Pioneer Interviews by sharn

Gurdev Singh Dhaliwal Chananwal was born in the village Patishakma located in the district Barnala in Punjab. India. Gurdev Singh parents’ names were Mr. Jaginder Singh Dhaliwal and Mrs. Sham Kaur Dhaliwal and he has two siblings, a brother and a sister. As a child growing up in India, he went to school and helped his father with farming. He arrived in Canada on July 11th, 1952 by flying to Hong Kong and then a connecting pager line ship took him to San Francisco. It took him 26 days to reach San Francisco and from there he took a train to White Rock, B.C. He met many South Asians both on the plane and encompassing ship who accompanied him throughout his journey to Canada, even though he did not know any of them prior to his travel. Before arriving to Canada, Gurdev Singh made the very difficult decision to cut his hair and remove his turban as well as to shave his beard and mustache.  He anticipated the racism beforehand and wanted to ensure that no one would abuse him. As a result of the drastic change in his appearance, even the immigration officer doubted if he was the same person as his passport picture looked very different.

He was encouraged to come to Canada his Uncle, well known pioneer, Paul Singh Dhaliwal. Paul Singh, who was an avid wrestler and even contemplated becoming a professional wrestler, wanted Gurdev Singh to pursue the same career path as Paul Singh had plans to send him to the United States for wrestling. Unfortunately, the wrestling career did not come to fruition for Gurdev Singh. When he first reached Canada he was extremely happy and excited at the future prospects in his life. His uncle picked him up from the railway station at White Rock and took him to his home in Mission, BC.  Gurdev Singh’s parents were upset when he left India for Canada as his mother asked him to promise that he would visit as soon as he got his citizenship. It took him five years to get his citizenship; however, he kept his promise to his mother and would revisit India in 1958.

Indeed, over the years, Gurdev Singh would continue to visit India a number of times. The first time he went back was in the year 1958 and he stayed there for about one and a half years. He continued with the family farming during that period. He then returned to Canada as his sister and paternal aunt’s applications had been accepted and they were joining him in Canada. There was a time when he had to fly back to India five times a year; therefore, he had enough mileage with Air Canada to occasionally win a free ticket.

In Canada, Gurdev Singh began his professional career by truck driving. He worked with a lumber company for some time and then changed his job. At his new job he drove large rolls of paper to the United States and brought back the produce. He loved his job greatly and found crossing the border a very exciting experience. Although he mostly lived in Mission, Gurdev Singh did live in Northern BC, in Houston and Smithers for two years while working as a truck driver. His family then bought a piece of land in the United States which they contracted out for three years until the person went bankrupt.

During all these years in Canada Gurdev Singh asserts that he did not face any kind of discrimination perhaps because Mission was a small town and maybe because his uncle Paul Singh was highly respected in the region. Despite there being just about six to seven Indian families in Mission, Gurdev Singh is particularly proud that a Sikh, Mr. Grewal became the mayor of Mission for two terms. This is a testament to the respect the Indo Canadian community has attained in Mission.

Hakam Singh Dhaliwal

In 1972, Hakam Singh started working in a shake mill named the S&W Shake and Shingle in Maple Ridge, working there until 1981, for almost 11 years. He worked at a few other mills also for short periods of time, but soon after that he started his own mill in partnership with Fraser Cedar, and worked there from 1982 onwards, for three to four years. Then he took his share out of Fraser Cedar, and started his own mill in 1985 with another partner, naming the mill ‘Upstream Cedar Products.’ Hakam Singh owned and worked in that mill for five years until 1990. Unfortunately, his mill caught fire in 1990 and after that he did not re-build it.

When Hakam Singh’s mill burned down and he left the industry, he purchased a farm with his brother-in-law in California. They bought a 215 acre farm in 1981 or 1982 where they were growing peaches and plums. Hakam Singh was working steadily there and going there for a month at a time. There was no one to look after the farm there, so he had to manage it through long distance travel. They finally found a man to maintain the farm on a day to day basis and they would go only during the harvest season. They traveled either by car or by air. If they wanted to stay there for a week, then they would take the car. After three years they sold the farm because both Hakam Singh and his brother-in-law did not want to stay in the US and it was difficult to manage. They sold half of the property first and then sold the rest of it later. Hakam Singh then joined another mill and started working again in the lumber industry.

In 1990, Hakam Singh started working at Watkins Saw Mill, otherwise known in its official name as Shake and Shingle Premium Cedar Product. The owners had 3-4 companies and one of their companies was Premium Cedar Products, where Hakam Singh worked from 2014, and that is where he retired from.

Both S&W and Watkin Saw Mill were owned by men of European origin: Leonard Watkin and his son. Hakam Singh worked for them for 25 years.  All the men, with whom he worked in the Watkins Mill, were already known to him. According to Hakam Singh, mostly people of European origin worked at the S&W Mill, but at the Fraser Cedar Mill, which was owned by an Indian man, most of the workers were Indians.

Hakam Singh felt it was a lot of headache and responsibility to own and run a mill and to own and run a farm. His transition from the mill owner and farmer to becoming a laborer once again did not bother him. Being an owner meant a great amount of responsibility. The only advantage of owning a mill according to Hakam Singh was that when someone owns the place, they earn good income for themselves. With lots of experience, someone can do the job one wants to do and be autonomous.

Hakam Singh had was married in 1971, after two and half years of his migration to Canada. He and his wife would raise their children in Canada. His father-in-law was living in Mission at the time of Hakam’s marriage and she was his only daughter. His wife’s father and his own father knew each other and the two fathers had arranged the marriage.

When Hakam Singh came to Canada, he was a very young 20 year old man. He recalls what a nice time he had in those days. There were approximately 10 Indian families living in Mission and everyone knew each other. There were only 3-4 Indian boys of his age and they got to know each other and friendly relationships came out of it. They enjoyed working together as well as the economy was good. One could always find work if they wanted to work. Since Hakam Singh’s family was already here and settling into Canadian life, they had put him to work and he started working.

Hakam Singh retired as a quality control person from his last job, and he also drove the forklift.  It was easy work and he feels that he could have worked for ten more years. However, his family advised him that after 45 years of working, it was time for his retirement. According to Hakam Singh, the workers demographics were 50/50 Indians and Europeans. There was no conflict between anyone while working there. Hakam Singh was a member of the board of directors at the union at S&W. Even men of European origin voted for him during the election because Hakam Singh worked well with all people.