The first Vaisakhi Reception on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, was held in 1987, and subsequently in 1988 and 1989, organized by Bhupinder Singh Liddar, a research assistant to one of the MPs at the time.

OTTAWA – Long before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government cabinet and caucus made the 2016 Vaisakhi an historic one by announcing the official apology for the Komagata Maru tragedy to be given in Parliament, there is a long history of Vaisakhi celebrations going back to the late 1980s

The first Vaisakhi Reception on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, was held in 1987, and subsequently in 1988 and 1989, organized by Bhupinder Singh Liddar, a research assistant to one of the MPs at the time.

Mrs. Rosalie Stoddard, of Woods Harbour, Nova Scotia, was the guest of honor at the 1988 Parliament Hill Vaisakhi Reception. She was instrumental in organizing making and serving of peanut butter sandwiches at Woods Harbour Fire Hall, for 174 Sikh refugees, who had landed in the early hours of the morning on July 12 1987 on Charlesville shoreline of Nova Scotia. John Fraser, then Speaker of the House of Commons, was the guest speaker.

Two Sikh MPs were elected to House of Commons, in 1993 federal election – Gurbax Singh Malhi, first turbaned Canadian Sikh MP and Herb (Harbance) Singh Dhaliwal. Malhi, in 1994, initiated holding of three-day recital (Akhand Path) from Sikh holy book (Siri Guru Granth Sahib) in his Parliamentary office, followed by a reception on the Hill.

In 1998, the newly-elected Reform Party MP, Gurmant Singh Grewal, later joined by his MP wife, Nina Grewal, also started hosting Vaisakhi celebration receptions.

Vaisakhi history provided to DESIBUZZbc by Bhupinder S. Liddar.