Backgrounder – Indo-Canadian Advisory Committee for the Community Historical Recognition Program

Three members were appointed to the newly established Indo-Canadian Advisory Committee for the Community Historical Recognition Program. Biographies of each of the members are below.

Mr. Jack Uppal (Chair)
Vancouver, British Columbia

Jack Uppal is considered one of the most recognized figures in Canada’s South Asian community. This community leader and successful businessman was brought to Canada as an infant in 1926 from the Punjab, India, by his pioneer father, Dalip Singh, who first moved to British Columbia in 1907. Mr. Uppal was one of the first Sikh children in a Vancouver public school. He owns Goldwood Industries, a successful lumber company in South Vancouver.

Mr. Uppal is known for hiring new immigrants and supporting others looking to come to Canada. To commemorate his achievements professionally, as well as his contributions to his community, Jack Uppal was honoured with a plaque from the villages of Uppal Jagir and Uppal Khalsa, both located in the Jalandhar District of India’s Punjab state, during a ceremony held at Surrey’s Bear Creek Park. He has also served on the executive of the Khalsa Diwan Society.

Dr. Ratna Ghosh (Vice-Chair)
Montreal, Quebec

Dr. Ratna Ghosh is a Professor at McGill University in Montreal. She currently holds the James McGill Professor distinction. Between 1998 and 2003, she was Dean of Education. The material she has published in books, journals and encyclopaedias reflect her varied research interests, which include international and multicultural/intercultural education, feminist pedagogy, international development, race relations and human rights. She has conducted research in Canada, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Dr. Ghosh was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000, Officer of the Order of Quebec in 2005 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1999. She is also a Full Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities and, in 2002, received a Golden Jubilee Medal. She was featured in the Canadian Edition of Time Magazine as one of “Canada’s Best in Education” in 2003. She received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in 1996, and has received several awards from national and international organizations.

Professor Ghosh has had an important leadership role in the development and governance of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, which is a consortium of Canadian universities involved in academic exchanges and programs between India and Canada. She served as its Resident Director in New Delhi, India, in 1982-83, and as President of the Institute from 1988-90. She has also served on the Board of Directors, the Education Committee and the International Committee of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation.

Dr. Ghosh has a Ph.D. and an M.A. in Comparative and International Education from the University of Calgary, a B.A. Honours in English with Distinction from the University of Calcutta, and a Music Diploma from Trinity College of Music in London England. She speaks many languages including English, French, Bengali and Hindi.

Mr. Iqbal Gill
Brampton, Ontario

Mr. Gill currently serves as a Peel District School Board teacher. He is highly respected within the Indo-Canadian communities as managing editor of Khabarnama, a weekly Punjabi newspaper, and as an author, radio and TV commentator, educator, multicultural consultant and journalist.

Active in the Punjabi communities, he served as a director of the Canadian Council of Punjabis, a community organization dedicated to peace and amity among diverse Canadian communities, and his activities also include fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation. Fluent in four languages, English, Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu, Mr. Gill holds an M.A. in English from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of Education degree from York University, Toronto.