Parmjeet Gill - from driving a taxi to running a small business and now campaigning to be a Member of Parliament

Parmjeet Gill has worked his way from driving a taxi, to owning a small business, to becoming a pillar in Winnipeg's Sikh community. Now he is spending his days campaigning to become the next Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North.

In 1998, Parmjeet helped found the Sikh Volunteers Association to organize annual blood drives. Today he is the fundraising chair for the $7 million Manitoba Sikh Cultural and Senior's Centre planned for the corner of Fife Street and Redwood Avenue.

In the photo above, Parmjeet Gill is on the far right beside two of his daughters. On my left is Pritam Brar, one of many who are helping with Parmjeet's campaign. If you would like to help Parmjeet, please call 988-3360 or email him at pgill@palmjeetgill.ca

A tribute to Angus Shortt

Today, the funeral service for Angus Shortt was an opportunity to celebrate his achievements. Angus was a friend. He was also a fine wildlife artist who produced, three years ago at age 94, a book entitled My Life with Birds.

Best known for his wonderful paintings of waterfowl and his association with Ducks Unlimited, Angus Shortt contributed a large number of paintings to Ducks Unlimited as part of their on-going fundraising efforts.

Beverley Pike, with the Manitoba Naturalists, began by mentioning that Angus and his wife Betsy were the longest continuously serving members of the society. Angus became a member in 1928. His wife Betsy joined in 1933. They first met at a Manitoba Naturalist's society meeting in 1933 where Angus was giving a talk about hawks and raptors.

In 1934, Angus, together with his brother Terry and Charles Broley visited Delta Marsh and found large numbers of dead Franklin's Gulls. Though the cause of death was never proven, the stomachs of the dead birds were full of grasshoppers and it is very likely it was due to poisoning from pesticides. It was a harbinger of later effects of chemicals like DDT on birds. The full story is told in a book I wrote in 1983 titled Charles Broley: An Extraordinary Naturalist.

Today, Angus's son Terrence talked about his years growing up and the times his parents took him to visit marshes, sloughs and forests in search of birds. He also talked about his father's passion for painting, wildlife, flowers and nature.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights - Keeping focused on the goal in stormy seas

Gail Asper spoke to the Laurier Club today about the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She talked about the importance of keeping focused on the goal of getting the Museum built and operating in the middle of stormy seas.

All along the way, the Canadian Museum of Human Rights has had to grow in turbulent times. One of the first major challenges came when Israel Asper died. Gail Asper, and many others who worked with her, kept focused on moving forward. Today, in the middle of an election there is uncertainty as to what party will form the next federal governmentm, and as a result, more uncertainty with respect to a number of other critical matters.

But Gail Asper is staying focused and she asks all of us, of whatever political persuasion, to stay focused on the critical goal of getting the Museum built and operating. The important thing to remember is that there are many people who are in solid support of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, and we all need to pull together to get the job done.

In the top photo, Gail is shown with Ray St. Germain , Mark Fouad, and Taran Malik who were at the Laurier Club luncheon. In the bottom photo, I am with Liz Barron and Sam Dixon who were also at the luncheon. We are all with you Gail. We are ready to help in whatever way we can.