Sikh community builder to receive interfaith award

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A prominent member of Manitoba’s Sikh community was named as this year’s recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding on Friday.

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A prominent member of Manitoba’s Sikh community was named as this year’s recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding on Friday.

Mohinder Singh Dhillon will receive the award from Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville in a ceremony at Government House on Feb. 4. The award is given to Manitobans who embody efforts to promote understanding among religious groups.

Dhillon, who moved to Canada in 1967, helped establish the Sikh community in Manitoba, a news release said.

An entrepreneur who has championed diversity and multiculturalism, he is also an advocate for human rights and has been a supporter of new immigrants to the province. Through his work with the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council, he has helped welcome and integrate nearly 5,000 refugees and new immigrants to Manitoba.

In addition to serving on the advisory board for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the University of Winnipeg’s Global College, Dhillon helped organize the World Religion Summit in Winnipeg in 2010 and is a past president of the Manitoba Multifaith Council.

He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg in 2008.

Multifaith council president Payam Towfigh said Dhillon is an excellent choice for the award because he is “a great asset to multifaith relations in Winnipeg.”

Towfigh praised Dhillon for how he reached out from his own Sikh community to other groups to promote “unity in the midst of diversity.”

His efforts “to bring us together have helped to make Winnipeg a more liveable place for all of us … I’m very pleased he is the recipient,” Towfigh said.

Ray Harris, the multifaith council’s secretary, said, “Mohinder has played a strong role in the Sikh community, but also by building bridges in the wider community.”

Past recipients of the award include former federal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy, former Winnipeg Police Service chief Devon Clunis and Free Press faith writer John Longhurst.

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John Longhurst

John Longhurst
Faith columnist & reporter

John Longhurst has been writing for Winnipeg's faith pages since 2003. He also writes for Religion News Service in the U.S., and blogs about the media, marketing and communications at Making the News.

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