Panorama

Print

E-mail

Text

Across Canada, the month of May is celebrated as both Asian Heritage Month and South Asian Heritage Month.

These two distinct categories of recognition celebrate the historical and contemporary achievements of individuals and groups whose goal has been the betterment of communities and Canada.

Asian Heritage Month gives recognition to the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to North America and Canada. This month of recognition also provides an opportunity for Canadians across the country to reflect on and celebrate the contributions of Asian Canadians to the development of Canada as one of the most socially, politically and economically viable countries on Earth.

Asian Heritage Month has been celebrated in the United States since 1979.

Over the last few decades, many Asians in Canada have taken to the custom of celebrating their heritage during the month of May. In December 2001, Senator Vivienne Poy introduced a motion in the Senate to designate May as Asian Heritage Month. The Government of Canada officially recognized May as the Asian Heritage Month in May 2002.

The story behind South Asian Heritage Month began in the early 1980s.

Events celebrating the impact of South Asian Canadians were largely initiated by Indo-Caribbean Canadians, descendants of the Indians who had first arrived in Guyana in 1838 and in Trinidad in 1845, and who had made a second migration to Canada in large numbers ever since the 1960s.

In 1986, a Toronto-based group called the Ontario Society for Services to Indo-Caribbean Canadians was formed primarily to celebrate the upcoming 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to Guyana in 1988. The organization continued to celebrate Indo-Caribbean Heritage Day until 2000.

In April 1997, the Indo Trinidad Canadian Association was formed and immediately started Indian Arrival Day celebrations that year.

By 1998, the association had decided to celebrate the event as Indian Arrival and Heritage Day, and held a huge event at the Etobicoke Olympium. When Indian Arrival and Heritage Month was launched at the Scarborough Civic Centre in 2001, the keynote speaker, Raminder Gill, a South Asian MPP, revealed that he planned to introduce a bill in the legislature to legitimize the event, and he did so later that same year.

Gill obtained multi-party support for the bill, but was told the legislature would not accept the name Indian Arrival and Heritage Month because it would cause confusion with the Indian Act and other laws relating to First Nations people. With this issue in mind, the name was changed to South Asian Heritage Month, and the bill received unanimous support and was signed into law in December 2001.

Since then, South Asian Heritage Month has grown dramatically. Dozens of celebrations take place each year, including events at the provincial legislature, the Gerard Street Bazaar, college and university campuses and through numerous religious and community groups.

Visit www.asian-heritage-month.org to find out about events connected with both Asian Heritage Month and South Asian Heritage Month.

Visit insidetoronto.com beginning Wednesday, May 7 for the beginning of a three-part series in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.

 

Jon Sarpong is the diversity officer at Durham College and UOIT. He provides independent diversity training and consultation for various organizations. Contact Jon by e-mailing jsarpong@hotmail.com.