Charan Gill
Charan Gill | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charanpal Singh Gill June 17, 1936 |
| Died | February 2, 2021 (aged 84) Langley, British Columbia, Canada |
| Known for | Social activism and human rights advocacy |
Charanpal (Charan) Singh Gill OBC (June 17, 1936 – February 2, 2021) was a Canadian social activist and South-Asian community leader in British Columbia.[1][2] He focused on improving the living conditions, wages, and working conditions of farmworkers across British Columbia and Canada. He was an inductee to the Order of British Columbia in 1999 and the recipient of the BC Achievement Foundation Community Award in 2010 for his contributions toward community service and social justice advocacy.
Early life
Gill was born on June 17, 1936 in Hong Kong in a Punjabi family. His family returned to India in 1938. He was raised by his mother Harnam Kaur Gill, after the death of his father in 1939.[1] He obtained a master's degree in Punjabi from Panjab University in India and worked in Hong Kong at a bank through his 20s.[2] He moved to Canada in 1967 at the age of 31, with his family joining him in 1969.[2] He would later go on to complete his Bachelors in Social Work (BSW) and Masters in Social Work (MSW) from the University of British Columbia.[1]
Career
Gill started his career in Canada, working in a sawmill in Williams Lake, BC, where he worked until he was forced to stop working due to a broken wrist.[2] The injury and subsequent work disruption had Gill shift focus to social work focused on northern communities in British Columbia.[2] He subsequently moved to Surrey in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia and continued his social work. He co-founded the Farm Workers Organizing Committee, focused on improving the living condition for farm workers in the region and later in 1978, he co-founded the Canadian Farmworkers Union to improve the working standards of farmworkers and focus on human rights, health and safety of the workers across the country.[2][3]
He was also the co-founder of British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism in the early 1980s, which was set up to counter the actions of right wing extremist groups including the local Ku Klux Klan.[2] During the 1980s and 90s, the organization's offices were repeatedly vandalized and the family subjected to many threats for their lives as they advocated actions against racially motivated attacks.[2]
Some of his other roles as a human rights activist included serving as an executive member of the B.C. Human Rights Coalition and serving as the the President of the B.C. Organization to Fight Racism. He was also the founder of Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, and also of the Rainbow Community Health Co-operative. Through these organizations he worked for the health and social justice actions for the South-Asian community in British Columbia.[3]
He was a recipient of the Order of British Columbia in 1999.[4][3] He received the BC Achievement Foundation Community Award in 2010 with the nomination statement stating that he was known "for doing more for his community in one single day than most will do in an entire lifetime”.[5]
Personal life
Gill and his wife had three children. The family moved to Canada from India in 1969, two years after Gill moved. Gill died on February 2, 2021 in Langley, British Columbia from cancer.[2] He was aged 86.[2]
References
- ^ a b c "Charan Gill, Canadian Community and Social Justice Activist, Passes Away". financialpost. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Charan Gill, human rights pioneer and B.C. South Asian community leader, dies at 84". Global News. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- ^ a b c "1999 Recipient: Charan Pal Singh Gill – Surrey : Order of BC". Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- ^ "OBITUARY: Charan Gill, founder of Surrey's PICS and champion of farmers, was 'a living legend'". Surrey Now-Leader. 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
- ^ "Charan Gill". BC Achievement Foundation. Retrieved 2021-02-03.