Khalsa Diwan Society: Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Niki Sharma

Vancouver Dept: Municipal, provincial and federal politicians attended the unveiling ceremony Monday afternoon, as well as members from the Khalsa Diwan Society, which runs Vancouver's Ross Street Sikh temple and designed the federally funded monument in consultation with the park board, according to Vancouver Sun. "Having parents myself that are from India strikes a chord with me, because if things hadn't changed, my future here would have been a lot different." Almost a full century after its 376 South Asian passengers were escorted out of Vancouver's Coal Harbour, the Komagata Maru freighter, and its would-be immigrants, have been honoured with a monument acknowledging Canada's past discrimination. "In a day like today, where Canada really embraces multiculturalism in a different way, it's startling for people to think that 98 years ago it could have been so different," said Vancouver park board commissioner Niki Sharma. "We're a country built on immigrants so the policies of the past really help us to realize how important it is to not go back there again. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.