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Temple of boom >> Montreal's Sikh community finally builds its first temple by PHILIP PREVILLE
In reality, however, the mantra should probably go something like this: "If you knock on enough doors and raise enough money, then wade your way through petty municipal politics to placate a reluctant mayor and get some zoning regulations changed, and then devote your energies to settling various hassles with construction-industry contractors and subcontractors in order to get the thing built, they will come." Last Sunday, over 3,000 people--including Vancouver South MP Herb Dhaliwal, the federal Minister of Revenue--attended the inaugural service at Gurdwara Sahib Montreal, the region's first built-from-scratch Sikh temple on Hyman Boulevard in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. "That was far beyond our expectations," says temple president Manjeet Singh. "We built it to seat 1,400 in the main chapel. There were people everywhere." Political interference The attendance was even more surprising when you consider that, until now, West Island Sikhs have been gathering in a split-level bungalow on Gouin Boulevard. "We tore out the bungalow's inside and turned it into a temple," explains Kulwant Singh Sandhu, a member of the temple's organizing committee. "But it really can't handle more than 100 people at a time. We were getting to the point where we couldn't afford not to build a new one." According to Sandhu, there are approximately 15,000 Sikhs in the Montreal area. Most immigrated to Canada in the 1980s and early 1990s from the Punjab, a province of India. Two years ago, Sandhu and others went door-to-door to raise money for the project. That was the easy part. "We raised the money in no time, but when we started looking for a place to build we got bounced around from one municipality to the other," he says. "No one really wanted us." Dollard Mayor Ed Janiszewski originally said no to them as well, claiming he was refusing all requests from all religious denominations--no new Catholic churches or synagogues either. "So we asked him how many churches and synagogues he had refused in the last two years, and of course he said none. We were the ones bearing the brunt of his decision." At that point, Janiszewski--perhaps concerned about potential political fallout from the issue--then told them to come back once they had compiled a list with the names and addresses of every Sikh living in Dollard. Since it was the closest they had come to a "yes" for their temple, the committee agreed, and returned six weeks later with their list. "Then he literally pointed to a spot on the map and said, 'Okay, this is the plot of land you can have to build your temple,'" recalls Sandhu. "If we weren't able to afford that land, our plans would have been scuttled." Sandhu stops short of accusing Janiszewski of any racist motivations. And Janiszewski says his reasons had more to do with urban planning than politics: "A lot of minority groups are looking to build these kinds of large, regional churches. Municipalities have to decide which ones they will accept and which ones they won't. As it turns out, there are a lot of Sikhs in Dollard. But if there were more Sikhs in a neighbouring city, we'd have suggested they build their temple there." No dining tables, thanks Thankfully, the price was right for the land Janiszewski offered them. A six-month construction period got stretched out to eight months due to various snafus, but the temple finally got built at a cost of approximately $2 million. That figure doesn't include the cost of tables and chairs for the dining area--currently a topic of great controversy among Sikhs in Vancouver, where some temples have attempted to introduce them. "Traditionally, Sikhs do not use tables and chairs," explains temple president Singh. "That's a custom that was brought to India by the colonizers, so many take offense to it. But we never used tables in the old bungalow, and didn't see a reason to start now." Montreal is among the last major urban centres in Canada--after Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary--to get its own Sikh temple. Another temple is currently being built in LaSalle, and is slated to open later this year.
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"If you build it, they will come." This phrase, first used in the movie Field of Dreams, has become commonplace in North American culture, and has now attained pearl-of-wisdom status.