As Canadians get ready to vote and with Sikh Heritage Month in full swing, a Punjabi-Canadian woman is remembering the strides her family took to fight for the rights of Sikh people in Canada in the 20th century.

In 1912, Battan Singh Beadall arrived in Vancouver after a four-month sail from the Hoshiarpur District in Punjab, the first of Buncy Pagely's family to set foot in Canada.

While Beadall was working for the Canadian Pacific Railway in Vancouver, there was an incident in Vancouver harbour involving the Komagata Maru, where most aboard the ship, the majority of whom were Sikh men, were denied entry as a result of the government's attempt to restrict immigration from British India. The passengers were forced to remain on board for two months.

"At that point, committees were formed to try to help bring [Komagata Maru passengers] in and to feed them because they didn't get that," said Pagely, Beadall's granddaughter, who lives on the Saanich Peninsula. "He worked, stayed there as a volunteer doing the shore committee to get the food out to help the persons on the ship."

After Komagata Maru left Vancouver, Beadall went on to Victoria, where he and other Indian and Chinese immigrants were among the first labourers to work on the now-renowned Empress Hotel along Victoria's Inner Harbour.

Pagely said some of those who successfully immigrated to Canada, such as Beadall, still went back to India from time to time, sometimes to get married or have children, or work until they were able to bring their families. They would then make the four-month journey by sea back again.

After working at a number of labour jobs and eventually buying a wagon and shares in a Vancouver Sawmill, Beadall moved back to India for a few years, until returning to Victoria in 1929 with his eldest son, Mahinder Singh Beadall. Before then, Battan Singh had a family in India, but due to racist immigration laws, Indian women and most children were not allowed to immigrate to Canada until around 1919.

After moving to Canada, Mahinder Singh Beadall, Pagely's father, quickly got to working with his dad selling wood. He also attended school, where he learned English, allowing him to work as an in-between for Indian immigrants and the government's immigration office.

Over the 1930s and '40s, Mahinder Singh continued to help new immigrants and got 'heavily" involved in the Gurdwara where he started the temple's first Punjabi school, all while working at a travel agency. Eventually, he started a fuel business after buying a boxcar and sponsored his family's move to Canada. 

Following the Great Depression, tensions were high between European-Canadians and Asian immigrants in B.C. over concerns around "illegal immigrants" on the one side, and lack of voting rights, income inequality and racism from the white majority on the other. In response, Battan Singh and three other Sikh men led a delegation to Ottawa in 1939, campaigning for legal status on behalf of 250 young Indian immigrants who had overstayed their visas amid the disruptions of the war.

"My dad then started raising funds in British Columbia to send back to the men staying in Ottawa," Pagely said. 

As a result of Battan Singh's delegation and Mahinder Singh's campaigning, a total of 250 people were registered and then allowed to bring their wives and families from India, according to the Khalsa Diwan Society. "That was quite a thing too, because their families [could come to Canada] after that," Pagely said.

Members of the Khalsa Diwan Society started putting pressure on then-B.C. premier John Hart to allow South Asians to vote, highlighting the many South Asians who fought for Canada during the First World War. Eventually, this led to the province amending the Elections Act to allow Chinese and Indian immigrants to vote in 1947.

The next year, Mahinder Singh was the first Sikh man to cast his ballot in Victoria.

Until their deaths, Mahinder Singh and Battan Singh continued working to support South Asian immigrants in the latter half of the 20th century, and to be leaders of the Victoria Punjabi community. Mahinder Singh was awarded the Honourary Citizen Award from then-Victoria mayor Peter Pollen for his five decades of community service.

On top of the election, Sikhs will be celebrating Vaisakhi this weekend (April 11) at the 1210 Topaz Avenue gurdwara, the biggest Sikh celebration of the year.