#1. FORENSIC AUDIT UNCOVERS FRAUD BY FORMER STUDENT LEADERS
A forensic audit that the Kwantlen Student Association (KSA) ordered on itself has revealed evidence of significant fraudulent activity committed by several former executives and staff associated with the 'Reduce All Fees (RAF) Party,' which controlled the KSA from May, 2005, to October, 2006. The forensic audit was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers following the defeat of the RAF Party in an election ordered by the B.C. Supreme Court, according to the KSA.
Significant findings in the forensic audit include:
- The KSA made over $140,000 in unsupported payments to RAF-affiliated executives and employees, including over $67,000 to RAF leader Aaron Takhar.
- The KSA loaned $200,000 to Inderjit Johal, on an unsecured basis, out of funds restricted for the KSA Health and Dental Plan. (The loan has since been repaid.)
- The KSA loaned $620,000 to Apex Communications, a telecommunications company based in Surrey, which was only partially secured through a second mortgage on Apex's property. KSA regulations prohibit the investment of KSA funds in high-risk investments.
"Aaron Takhar and the RAF Party nearly ran the KSA into the ground" said Laura Anderson, KSA Chairperson. "Our Council believes that it is our duty to ensure that they are held responsible for the tremendous harm that they inflicted on the students of Kwantlen University College during their time in office."
The forensic audit can be found at: http://www.kusa.ca/media/
Incidentally, The VOICE had reported back in May that Aaron Takhar of Surrey and Pritpal Singh of Richmond appeared in a Prince George court on May 17 for charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in connection with a May 12 Vanderhoof incident where a routine road check at 3:30 a.m. led to the seizure of marijuana plants from one of their two vehicles.
Daljit Sandhu, the 19-year-old driver of one of the vehicles, went missing after he suddenly took off from a police roadblock and his Ford Escape plunged into the Nechako River after he suddenly took off. Two months after he went missing, his body was recovered from the Nechako River on July 12.
#2. SFU STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER IS ONE 'SWEET' DUDE
Sam Thiara is an Indo-Canadian who marches to the beat of his own drum with the British Columbia Regiment Irish Pipes and Drums. But it's his ability to help others march to the beat of their own drums that makes him stand out at Simon Fraser University, where he has won this year's B.C. Sugar Achievement Award.
A student affairs officer in SFU's Faculty of Business, Thiara helps business students shine in their studies, community work, international exchange programs and worldwide competitions. "Aside from selecting and grooming students for competitions, I encourage them to think beyond transcripts and grade point averages and become effective communicators," explains Thiara. He notes that his position doesn't exist at other Canadian universities and is unique at SFU.
One of SFU's highest honours, the B.C. Sugar Award recognizes a student, staff or faculty member for garnering national and international praise that enhances SFU's reputation. A $5,500 cash prize accompanies the sweet victory, which Thiara, a North Vancouver resident, will use to help finance his master's degree in leadership at the University of Exeter in England.
"Sam's energy and passion for the holistic approach to making the undergraduate experience and community service vehicles for personal development shines through in all of his dealings with faculty, staff and students," says SFU Business Associate Dean Maureen Fizzell.
Thiara, an SFU business and political science graduate, has helped more than 20 community organizations, such as Leaders of Tomorrow, the Children's Wish Foundation and the North Shore Neighbourhood House, achieve their goals. He has helped countless individuals, including SFU graduates Terry Beech and Shawn Smith, blossom into recognized community leaders.
Thiara's unwavering commitment to student and community development earned him the 2006 Governor General's Caring Canadian Award and the 2002 Outstanding Grad Award for Leadership Vancouver, a community leadership program. A graduate of the program, Thiara became a board member and chaired its graduate network committee.
In the minds of some Olympians Thiara deserves a gold medal for his dedication to helping Vancouver win the bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. Along with conducting 60 open houses to promote the bid, Thiara implemented municipal and community projects and networked with political and community representatives.
What drives Thiara, who still finds time for his hobbies, drumming and photography, to accomplish so much? "I am passionate about what I learn and about leadership, and about making it all enable me to give back to the community," says Thiara. "My favourite quote is, 'Everyone's life is an autobiography. You have to make yours worth reading."'
#3. GOLD SMUGGLER BARRED FROM CANADA
Washington resident, Sukhchain Sandhu, pleaded guilty on April 4 to smuggling nearly 11 kilos of gold jewellery into Canada, and was sentenced in New Westminster Supreme Court on August 9.
The court fined Sandhu $50,000 and imposed a victim surcharge of $7,500. As well, Sandhu's vehicle, a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo, was forfeited to Canada Border Services Agency and Sandhu abandoned any future claim to the seized jewellery.
On July 27, 2005, Sandhu told Border Services officers that he had nothing to declare at the Aldergrove border crossing. When officers examined his vehicle, they found nearly 11 kilos of gold jewellery, valued at over $420,000, hidden in the door panels of the vehicle.
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, foreign nationals who are convicted of a serious offence are not admissible into Canada.
The Customs Act requires every person entering Canada to accurately report all goods being brought into the country and, if required, present those goods for examination.
#4. PAUL CHEEMA FOUND DEAD, BUT HIRJI INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
Truck driver Paul Cheema, who was indirectly identified as the prime suspect in the July 5 murder of his wife, Shemina Hirji, who was principal of Surrey's AHP Matthew Elementary, in her condominium at 7488 Mulberry Place in Burnaby just days after their marriage, was found dead in his brother's home on August 27 in the 15100-block of 23A Avenue in Surrey.
For more details about this case, go to www.voiceonline.com, first click on the "Archive Editions" section and then click on July 21, 2007. I do not intend repeating all those details here.
Paul's brother Bob Cheema would only tell The VOICE that family members found his body in the basement of their house that evening. He said: "Police are investigating the cause of death and the coroner's office have told us that it will take about maybe 8 to 10 weeks to find out the exact cause of death."
Corporal Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said: "After an initial investigation Surrey RCMP called in the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team to conduct an investigation into the death. B.C. Coroners Service attended the scene and took control of the body."
So what happens now in the case?
The VOICE asked Cpl. Carr if anything had changed in the murder investigation. Of course, police have never identified Cheema directly as their prime suspect, and so Carr could only speak indirectly.
He told me: "Our investigation will remain. Nothing has changed. We still have a body of evidence. We are still gathering additional evidence … Once we feel that we have exhausted all avenues in this investigation, we'll look at the totality of all the evidence and see where it points us and we will follow the evidence. Because we are an evidence-driven organization, we will follow that evidence and we will eventually be able to arrest somebody or make an announcement of some sort as to who was responsible."
Carr also confirmed again that their prime suspect 'chose his right not to speak to the police.' He also confirmed that the suspect's family cooperated with the police.
Cheema's funeral will he held on Sunday.
#5. ABBOTSFORD NAGAR KIRTAN FOOD CONTROVERSY
Somebody in Fraser Health Authority has been screwing up royally - and that has got many Sikhs very upset as they prepare for Sunday's nagar kirtan (religious parade) organized by Abbotsord's Gurdwara Kalgidhar Darbar Sahib Society to commemorate the 403rd anniversary of the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikhs' holy book).
To cut a long story short, it is the religious tradition to distribute free food during the religious parades - and the Sikhs have had no problem with the health authorities anywhere in Canada.
Now, according to a representative of the Abbotsford temple, health inspectors of the Fraser Health Authority were insisting on impractical technicalities that don't even apply in their case.
Well-known talk show host and news director of Red FM Radio in Surrey, Harjinder Singh Thind, who took up the issue on Thursday, told The VOICE: "The issue is there is no fire involved - they are not having any kind of cylinder or any kind of fire or barbeque or anything - and there is no sense, the organizers say, for them having fire-proof tents that cost more than $250 more than normal tents and having fire-proof flooring and hot-water hook-up. There is no dishwashing - they have plastic containers, disposal things. The issue is that when there is no fire involved - there is no cooking or hot plate. They cook at home under normal conditions that they use to make their own meals and then they bring the food to the stalls."
He called the Fraser Health Authority and they were trying to tell me these were the guidelines, but they couldn't answer properly, only saying that they would look into it.
Thind mentioned some specific Indo-Canadian events in Surrey where people were cooking openly and the same authorities didn't take any action.
#6. YET ANOTHER TRAGEDY IN OUR COMMUNITY
Even as our community was reeling under the horrific Abbotsford accident tragedy that took place late Friday night (August 24) last week, a 37-year-old Surrey man, Anupinder Singh Mann, died in a sky diving incident on Sunday (August 26) at the Pitt Meadows Airport at about 6:45 p.m.
Ridge Meadows RCMP Watch Commander Sgt. R.E. Lemon said: "The man's main chute did open, but other complications led to the mishap."
The victim's brother-in-law, Manjinder Nahal, told Global B.C. TV that Mann had gone to celebrate because he had just received his Chartered Accountant credentials and had got a new job. He had a two-year-old kid.
The Province newspaper reported that this was the third serious accident and second fatality involving Pacific Skydivers Ltd. in 16 years.
#7. GIVING CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE: VANCOUVER SUN
I must say that the Vancouver Sun's coverage of a raft of stories involving Indo-Canadians, including the Abbotsford accident tragedy, has been EXCELLENT over the past week. I hope the trend continues instead of only focussing on negative news about Sikh factional politics or unnecessarily highlighting Indo-Canadian crime news. The Vancouver Sun got Anupreet Sandhu Bhamra to help out with the Abbotsford tragedy coverage. I am also very impressed by reporter Kelly Sinoski's coverage of news.
Special mention must be made of the story "Medics save two lives at 35,000 feet - 'Hold me, I am dying,'" by Jeff Lee, who's a well-known investigative reporter. The story was a remarkably detailed piece on how nurse Ramandeep Sihota-Bhangu and Dr. Muni Nazerali on an Air Transat flight from Manchester, U.K., to Vancouver saved the lives of two women - one a Punjabi and the other white - in separate medical emergencies. If you missed it, get a copy from somewhere and read it.
The story and a follow-up did a great public service, too, in exposing the inadequate emergency medical kits on flights.
Excellent stuff, indeed.
#8. CANADIAN RACISM - ONE
Over the past decade, my relentless crusade against racism (nor just white racism - but also Indo-Canadian, Chinese-Canadian and other racism) has been mocked by many losers. Yes, even some idiots in our own community who like to live in a make-believe world or are desperately trying to hide their inferiority complex - including some of our brown guys in mainstream media! - have tried to belittle my reports. Yet, the ineluctable fact remains that subtle and not-so-subtle racism still thrives in Canada (as it does in the rest of the world, too, to be sure).
Letters to The Province newspaper following the story on gangsta rapper Jerome Almon being denied entry into Canada and his lawsuit alleging racial profiling brought out some grim racist realities. Having lived in Toronto myself, I well know the stereotyping of blacks there, even by Indo-Canadians. And that is something that's got to end.
One reader wrote: "We black people in Canada know our race counts. The issue of racial profiling is not just against gangsta rappers, but also against black people, Canadian and non-Canadian."
A Toronto lawyer while being opposed to Almon's lawsuit, however, had this to say: "Racial profiling does occur at our borders; that is a well-established fact. The problem is getting our courts to accept that the evidence supports it."
Another writer, who's invited his Mexican friends to Canada after having lived in Mexico himself, wrote: "Without exception, those who are light-skinned, tall and able to speak English are shown the welcome mat. Those who are shorter, dark-skinned and without English skills are subjected to a barrage of interrogation and often put right back on the plane."
Thank you, Province, for publishing the letters and edifying your readers.
#9. CANADIAN RACISM - TWO
Even I was appalled to read a Calgary Herald report about WHITE SUPREMACISTS openly turning up at an anti-racism rally in Calgary - ironically, that actually openly showed that there do exist RACIST SCUMBAGS who are totally shameless.
Many Indo-Canadian mocked me a decade ago when I warned about white racists in Surrey - until Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Temple caretaker Nirmal Singh Gill, 65, was brutally murdered in 1998 by five young white males, members of a white supremacist group.
The prosecution and the judge were very tough on the racists. The judge said: "Nirmal Singh Gill is dead simply because he was Indo-Canadian. He was attacked because he was different from the accused. It is that simple."
That chilling reality seems to be very much still alive and kicking!
Last weekend's report from Calgary said: "Members of a group calling itself the Aryan Guard waved "white pride" banners and Confederate flags on Saturday as activists gathered in Hillhurst and Marlborough for demonstrations spawned by the recent appearance of neo-Nazi posters.
What is the Canadian police doing? Sleeping at the switch? What are our lawmakers doing - except blaming the judges for inadequacies in the laws that the politicians themselves are supposed to rectify?
#10. CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE A DISGRACE
Talk about racism! Well take a look at the Canadian professional organizations that keep holders of foreign degrees - especially those from non-white countries such as India and Pakistan - out of the loop on every pretext they can think of under the sun. And our gutless, useless politicians have been sitting back and making symbolic groans about changing the situation for years, but doing nothing about it on one excuse or the other.
Meanwhile, Canada is losing out on a wide range of talents and services - from highly qualified teachers to doctors and engineers who end up driving taxis or becoming security guards - that the United States is so quick to grab. That is why Indian professionals in the U.S. mock Canada as a country of second-rate professionals who are so INSECURE in their positions!
This week, the Federal Court ordered the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to reconsider the $9,500 compensation that it awarded Gian Singh Sangha, 57, after it ruled last year that the scientist from India had been discriminated against by the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board whose officials basically said that he was OVERQUALIFIED for the job and that he would get bored and start looking for another job.
Sangha wants more than $100,000 in pay and the Tribunal should agree to that amount because it would send a very strong signal to other companies to stop this ridiculous excuse of a person being overqualified.
Sangha had a PhD in environmental science and 15 years of experience. He also got one of the highest scores for the job of a regulatory officer. Yet, they found an excuse to deny him the job.
#11. LAIBER SINGH BACK IN ABBOTSFORD
Failed refugee claimant Laiber Singh, who got a reprieve last week from Immigration and Refugee Board member Mark Tessler, was released from the pre-trial centre where he had been held since August 13. He's back in Abbotsford after the community raised $50,000 for his bond.
A section of Indo-Canadians believe that it would be more humane to send him back to India with $100,000 or more donated by those community members who have been supporting him. He would then be able to get the best medical treatment in the world back in New Delhi and his family members who are all in India would be able to take care of him, too. It is time they put their money where their mouth is if they are really sincere about sympathizing with him.
The IRB had also ruled that Abbotsford's Kalgidhar Darbar Gurdwara officials would have to produce a statement that he would be turned over to the Canadian Border Services Agency if he was ordered deported, and he would also have to report to the CBSA every week by phone.
Singh got a last minute respite when thanks to Conservative M.P. Nina Grewal's intervention, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day granted a 60-day stay of deportation. Singh's lawyer Zool Suleman has filed an appeal with the immigration minister on humanitarian grounds.
But it sure is a big joke to call a person from India a "refugee" - a country with a healthy democracy, a far more vibrant free press than Canada's, human rights organizations, and a strong Supreme Court.
- RATTAN MALL
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