Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ottawa South Asians

South Asians: The community influence is also reflected in the corridors of power in Ottawa — 23 South Asians, 17 of them Sikh, were elected last fall, according to National Observer. It expected all will be on hand Wednesday for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau historic apology for what happened next with the Komagata Maru some 102 years ago. Fast forward more than a century and South Asians are the single largest visible minority community in the country, with Statistics Canada estimating that they will represent one in every three people in the Toronto area alone by 2031. Canadian officials refused to allow the Indians in, arguing the ship passengers were violating immigration laws even though they were British subjects just like every other Canadian of the time. The family would continue their lives in India, the dream of moving abroad deferred for more than 70 years, until 2003 when — despite their family history — the Randhawas applied again to enter Canada and were accepted. The ship was forced back to India, where 19 were killed in a skirmish with British authorities and dozens of others were imprisoned or forced into hiding, including Randhawa great-great grandfather. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.