oral histories
Balwant Sanghera
Canada is a very inclusive country. It is a very multicultural country, and it is a very welcoming country. That is what our family really enjoyed.
Balwant emigrated from India to Canada in 1966 and immediately began his teaching career in Northern BC. In 1983, he earned his Master of Education degree from UBC and became a school psychologist. Balwant then developed an innovative educational program to serve adolescents with mental health and behavioural problems, mentored youth and fostered similar programs province wide.
Over the years, Balwant’s deep commitment to public service has also benefitted the lives of many Canadians. In Richmond, his roles have included being president of the Richmond Multicultural Concerns Society and the Punjabi Language Education Association of British Columbia, chair of Richmond’s Intercultural Advisory Committee, President of the East Richmond Community Association and an organizer of Multi-Fest, a summer festival to celebrate Richmond’s diversity.
Balwant has been awarded the Order of British Columbia and the Queen’s Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals, as well as numerous other awards, in recognition of this many contributions to our city, province and country. He is a much-respected multicultural advocate, and a bridge builder between communities and generations.
What was it like when you arrived here in 1966?
Expo in Montreal in 1967 changed the face of Canada. At that time, Canada was opened to the world. Everybody knew where Canada is, what Canada’s main things are. As I mentioned, Mike Pearson played a great major role in that, welcoming people. That opened up Canada to the world. In the same way, the 1986 Expo in Vancouver opened up BC to the world. Since then, there has been so much development because it attracted international attention. It was like a gem that was hidden but then it became known. Look, since then, since 1986 thousands and thousands of people have come.
Look at the buildings all around. Like Richmond has become a towering community. So many towers and so many people moving in because Richmond is a very welcoming community too. I call it one of the best communities in Canada because it is a very multicultural community, it is a very welcoming community, and it is a very inclusive community. We all love working here and incidentally, there is one more aspect maybe I should mention to you. Here are . . . I am quite active in this Sikh temple. I have been involved for many, many years.
It has called the India Cultural Centre of Canada, Gurdwara Nanak Niwas, 8600 Number 5 Road, Richmond. I have been involved in this Sikh temple for many, many years. About twenty years ago, when I was president of the Richmond Multicultural Community Services, our Nanak Niwas Gurdwara, Sikh Temple, and there were some other places of worship were coming up. So, I sent one of my staff members. I said, “Go and look at what’s happening on Number 5 Road.” She did a kind of survey. She went around, talked to the people, the management, of each place of worship and then I wrote a story in the Richmond Review. The Richmond Review stopped printing a few years ago. I called it our highway to heaven. So we came together and formed the Highway to Heaven Association. I was acclaimed Chairperson of this organization.
Did you coin that term?
I coined that phrase: Highway to Heaven. Now, Sheila, we have twenty-five places of worship between Bridgeport and Steveston along Number 5 Road. We all work together. We have formed an association called Highway to Heaven Association. We meet every couple of months here and share stories with each other. We support each other and there are a lot of people who come to visit and we coordinate our visit so that in one day you can go to the Sikh temple, you can go to the mosque next door, you can go to the Buddhist temple, you can go to the Hindu temple, you can go to Christian churches. In the same day, you can visit all of them, which is very unique. So, this is another gem, like Steveston. We call it a crown in Richmond but I think this is another gem for Richmond. So, we have this Highway to Heaven Association. We are very active. We are promoting it. What happened, Sheila, the National Film Board of Canada did a documentary. I understand they show it on Air Canada international flights. They came here to talk to us when they were shooting the documentary.
In 2017, BBC did a story on our Highway to Heaven. There was a national poll about the most famous, favourite famous places in Canada to visit. Our Highway to Heaven was ranked 50th in that poll. They picked up all those places. In 2017, BBC did a story on our Highway to Heaven. It went viral. I had a call from Global Affairs Canada, as I am Chairperson of the Highway to Heaven Association. So, they called me. They said, “There are thirteen ambassadors from the United Nations coming to Vancouver for a conference on Peace and Defense. They have heard about your Highway to Heaven and they would love to visit you.” I said, “Welcome.” So, when they came Vancouver in November 2017 we hosted them here, right here in our Sikh temple. We had lunch for them. They were very impressed. Then, I had two people, our vice principal from the Islamic academy, this side, and our vice principal from the Jewish Day School. They made the presentation about our Highway to Heaven, how things are working, why we came into existence, what we are doing. They were very impressed. The Canadian Ambassador was just beaming. He wrote me a very glowing letter.
Could you tell me a little bit more about your career and your community work?
I started my teaching career in Hudson’s Hope, BC. I was active there. I was elected President of the Teacher’s Association in my first year, Sheila. You would not believe it. Our president, he moved to Kelowna for a job in Kelowna. I was Vice President first and then they made me President. So, since then, I have been quite active in the BCTF [BC Teachers’ Federation] as well until my retirement. I served in many communities as president of Lillooet Teacher’s Associations and Portage Mountain Teacher’s Association, and also at the BCTF. As a member and Chairperson of the BCTF Committee of Ombudspersons. Okay, that was on the professional side. Also, I was quite active in the community. So, when I moved to Lillooet I was encouraged to run for the Village Council and I did. I served as Alderman / Councillor for thirteen years I and I was very proud to be of any service to my community.
In 1990, I moved to Richmond. Before moving to Canada, I had earned a BSc degree from Punjab University in India and, here, I chose teaching as a profession. I went to Simon Fraser University to begin my professional training. Then, I got a Bachelor of Education degree from Notre Dame University, Nelson, a private university there. I started teaching in 1968. Then I went to UBC, upgraded myself, and did my masters at UBC in 1983. I became a school psychologist. Then in 1990, I moved to Richmond to serve as a school psychologist with the Burnaby School District. I served there for fourteen years from 1990 to 2004 in Burnaby School District at the Maples Adolescent Centre in educational assessment as a school psychologist. That was a very enjoyable experience, too.
I retired in 2004, but since then I have been very busy with the community. I served as the president of the Cambie Community Centre in East Richmond for many, many years. I was very pleased for my contribution there with my colleagues there. King George Park, you will remember, I had a lot of roles in that working with the board, getting improvements from the city, working with the city. The city has been very cooperative. Also, I served as President of the Richmond Multicultural Community Services for many years too. I got involved with the Punjabi Language Education Association in 1994. Punjabi was recognized as the second language in BC’s school curriculum. My colleagues and I have been working on that since then with me as president. There are many other activities that I was involved in. Currently, I am serving as a member of the Board of Governors of BCIT. Before that, I served on the Board of Governors of Langara College and many other organizations. So, it is a real honour for me to be of service to my country, to my province.