Paramjit Singh Patara

Date of Birth:
1955
Birthplace:
Village Accharwal, Hoshiarpur, Punjab
Current City:
Kelowna, BC

Paramjit Singh Patara was born in the village of Accharwal, Hoshiarpur in Punjab, India. In 1964, at the age of 9, he and his sister immigrated to England. Paramjit completed his school, college studies, a degree and did an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering and started working with Rolls Royce. After getting married, he moved to Canada at the age of 21.

He first moved to Montreal since Rolls Royce had an office there, however since his wife was a nurse, she would have to learn French to work in Montreal because of which they decided to move to Ontario. Paramjit recalls that at that time, there were hardly any people of South Asian origin in Montreal and they used to feel really happy seeing someone from their region. After moving to Brockville, Ontario, his wife got a job as a nurse there. There was no gurdwara there and the nearest one used to be in Ottawa, which was a one and a half hour drive from there. They used to drive sometimes to Ottawa to visit the gurdwara. In 1979, they moved to Kelowna after they came for Paramjit’s Aunt’s funeral and were persuaded by his cousin to move to Kelowna, where they lived. Raised in England, Paramjit didn’t had to face much difficulties settling in Canada, as he was well versed with the language and had the required work experience and knowledge of trades, which was a big requirement in the Canadian workforce back then.

Paramjit then started his business here with the help of a long time resident of Kelowna – Joginder Singh Basran. Together they did a lot of work to establish the Punjabi culture and community in Kelowna. In those days, there were only 30 Punjabi families living here. Everyone knew one another and shared a lot of love and affection amongst one another. People also helped one another, especially the newcomers, in settling around the city and solving any problems a person might be facing. For example, there were a few incidents of discrimination, but the community got together and found a solution for this. Paramjit also feels that by spreading awareness about the culture and the Punjabi community, they have been able to develop a very positive relationship with the other communities in Kelowna. People from the Punjabi community have made a lot of progress and are now well recognized – politically and socially.

Paramjit himself has been very involved with the community since his early days in Kelowna. He considers himself fortunate to have had the opportunity to contribute and help in building the first gurdwara in Kelowna. He also used to participate in different cultural events across the province and perform bhangra with different groups like the power group in Vancouver ran by Paul Binning. In addition to this, he is the current president of the Okanagan Sikh Temple in Kelowna and the gurdwara organizes educational tours for school children to spread awareness about the Sikh religion and Punjabi culture along with serving langar to them.