Diversity in Abby Policing...

Law Enforcement Adapts to a Growing Multicultural Community.

Law enforcement in the 21st century has become complex in dealing with the ever-changing demands of a growing multicultural community. Whether it is in a corporate boardroom or fighting crime on the streets diversity is the approach many companies are pursuing in the globalization of our communities. Abbotsford Police is one of these organizations that has taken a leadership role on diversity initiatives and many police agencies across North America are modeling their approach. Abbotsford Police has eight organizational values, one of which is diversity. Last year, the department formed a Chief Constable's Diversity Advisory Committee and Diversity Relations Unit, which have proven to be both successful additions to the 195-member department. Abbotsford Police is the second city police department (after Vancouver Police in the province to adopt such models. When it came to forming the Diversity Advisory Committee the department received overwhelming solid support from the community. The committee meets a couple of times a year or more to deal with issues of diversity.
Meeting with two members from the Abbotsford Police Recruiting Unit Sergeant Jules Tessarolo and Constable Wanda Lane the department is looking to add new members in the coming years. Both Tessarolo and Lane are not shy about the idea that the department is targeting people from various ethic communities. The department currently has a wide range of members from different nationalities who speak various languages and they are looking to add to these numbers in the future. In a time where many departments across Canada are in a hiring phase Tessarolo and Lane are asking applicants to consider applying with them.Abbotsford Police is one of the fastest growing departments in the province to meet the demands of the Central Fraser Valley. Are you fit with no criminal record and looking for an exciting and rewarding career. The Abbotsford Police wants you. The recruiting unit are encouraging candidates who want to pursue a career in policing there is no better time to apply than now. Applicants should be 19 years of age and a Canadian citizen with a valid driver's license and have a minimum Grade 12 education. The selection process is competitive with a written test, a physical component and many interviews. The process can take anywhere from three to six months depending on the individuals background. Candidates who are selected are sworn in as Probationary Recruit Constables and attend an extensive training program at the Justice Institute, which includes three blocks of training. The department is looking to hire recruits for this fall.
The duo member recruiting unit team encourages applicants who are considering applying that good work history solid character with good decisionmaking ability is what they are looking for in a new recruit. Tessarolo and Lane added that they understand people make mistakes but want they are looking for is honesty and what they have done to better themselves. Age is not a factor and applicants who are considering career changes are welcomed to apply. There is currently a recruit who is 37 years old and is in training at the Justice Institute. Tessarolo and Lane express that life experience is valuable in the selection process and on the job. Cst. Lane said, " Diversity is one of our values and as such we work to ensure our department reflects the diverse make-up of our community- it is very important to us. Abbotsford is a diverse community and we recognize in order to provide the best possible police service to our citizens we must have officers that reflect this diversity. We are, and always have been, a department seeking qualified men and women from all backgrounds. We are proud of our diversity." Cst. Nina Brah, the first female Indo Canadian officer to go through the entire selection process and get hired by the Abbotsford Police department in 2006 said, " Abbotsford is a great place to live and work. The entire community of Abbotsford has been welcoming and supportive. Abbotsford Police is a first class organization that believes in diversity and I am proud to be part of this team. I would like to encourage more women to chose policing as a career and make a difference in our community."
Policing has endless opportunities with a competitive salary and benefits with enormous growth potential. Communication is a valuable weapon in policing which opens up arteries in the community. When you have a diverse police body, which includes women, are community becomes an inclusive environment making it safer for everyone.
If this sounds like a career that your interested in please visit www.abbypd.ca and submit your application online or contact Cst. Wanda Lane at 604 859 5225.
KenHerar@gmail.com


Abbotsford Police Recruiting Unit Sergeant Jules Tessarolo and Constable Wanda Lane
Cst. Nina Brah, the first female Indo Canadian officer to go through the entire selection process and get hired by the Abbotsford Police department in 2006

Speaking with Students at Harry Sayers Elementary..

January 19th, 2007
to February 1st, 2007
Punjabi Patrika`
Youth Views on Diversity
by Ken Herar
In my quest to find my last and
remaining group to discuss diversity I
decided to open this space for our youth.
They might be young but many have the
ability to think beyond there chronicle
age. Harry Sayers Elementary in
Abbotsford is a model school when it
comes to diversity. A student population
of just under five hundred students Harry
Sayers is the largest elementary school
in the district. Students and staff come
from all backgrounds making Harry
Sayers a unique place to teach and learn.
Some say Harry Sayers Elementary is
too ethnically diverse. School officials
and students have proven many wrong.
With programs like Conspiracy and
Together For Tomorrow which provide
students with leadership ability to make
better choices Harry Sayers students are
becoming leaders on diversity. Winner
of the local Cultural Diversity Award in
2005 for Inclusive Environment many
schools are looking toward Harry Sayers
Elementary for leadership. One of the
school officials who is leading this
initiative is Sayers Principal Susan Antek.
She has undertaken this difficult task and
shown that diversity has no boundaries.
Antek and her staff have developed a
positive environment at Harry Sayers
Elementary creating a common
understanding where students appreciate
and learn about various cultures. Often
what we learn at a young age shapes us
for tomorrow.
Antak said, "At Harry Sayers
Elementary, all students have the
opportunity to develop their full potential
as individuals and as members of our
school community. Students are
encouraged and expected to achieve
their personal best in school and to
become socially responsible individuals.
We work to inspire students to become
lifelong learners. Our school motto is
"Reach for the Stars". The guiding stars
for lifelong learning that are stressed at
Harry Sayers Elementary are: Respect,
Effort, Attitude, Cooperation and
Honesty. When I imagine one of my
students as an adult, I see a person who
is a thinker and a doer. I see an individual
who speaks up for what he or she wants
or believes, with creativity, passion,
courage and perseverance. I see a
person who cares about others and the
world. When students leave our school,
we want them to have the basic life skills
that will help them get along in middle
school, in high school and in the adult
world. At Harry Sayers Elementary
students, staff and parents have created
an environment where diversity is truly
respected and celebrated." I proposed
the same question to four Grade 5 Harry
Sayers students. How can we create an
inclusive diverse Canada and become
better citizens? Here is what they said:
Kieran Dyck said, "I like living in a
diverse country because it would be
boring if everybody were the same. You
shouldn’t fight with someone because
you don’t understand their culture or their
religion. I have fun experiencing and
learning about different cultures.
Respecting all cultures and religions
with something, it’s important that you
help out. We need to be caring and not
racist in our thinking. Don’t think that
you’re better than other people.
Everyone deserves respect. Living in
Canada is great because we try to help
one another. We also need to respect
our environment. If everyone helps out,
our world will be fresh and clean for
people today, and in the future."
Jasmin Gill said, "Do you want to
make the world a better place? I sure
do. Some of the ways we can try to make
a difference are to encourage kindness
and affection and discourage violence
and greed. We can solve problems by
thinking about others and how they feel
other than your own is very important.
We respect one another at our school."
Sandeep Kang said, "If you want your
culture to be respected, then you should
respect other peoples’ cultures too. You
should always treat other people the way
you would like to be treated. We talk
about this at our school assemblies and
in our classes. For example, if a smaller
person wants to join a sports team and
the rest of the children are taller, it doesn’t
mean that the smaller person can’t join
because he or she is small. Everybody
should get a chance to try. To make our
community a wonderful place to live, we
should also keep the environment clean.
To do that, we should recycle. Working
together, we can make a difference."
Nhan Nguyen said, "We need to walk
in other peoples’ shoes and feel what
they feel. If you say something hurtful
to someone, you need to think about how
they are feeling. If someone needs help
and by talking to one another. We need
to respect both the similarities and
differences of other people. At Harry
Sayers Elementary, we follow the
Guiding Stars every day. (Respect,
Effort, Attitude, Cooperation and
Honesty) We work to remember to treat
others the way we want to be treated."
I have enjoyed these discussions on
diversity. I like to thank all respondents
for participating in these series. Many
voices are better than one. We have
heard from a variety of ages, sexes and
cultural groups. The answer is
unanimous. We can all become better
Canadians.
KenHerar@gmail.com

A CandleLight Christmas..

Candlelight parade among annual thrills

Ken Herar, The Times

Published: Friday, December 04, 2009

Did you hear that Santa is making an early stop at the 26th annual Mission Candlelight Parade tonight?

The annual event, presented by the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce, is one of the largest evening parades in B.C. with approximately 1,000 participants, more than 75 entries and around 13,000 spectators.

Having lined up along the parade route on previous occasions it's a fabulous evening destination to connect with people and meet friends.

I encourage you to get there early because parking is always challenging. The parade starts at 7:30 p.m. along First Avenue and concludes at the Cedar Connector.

Parade entries are expected to come from all over the Lower Mainland.

Mission Food Centre will be accepting food donations along the parade route.

Satti Grewal, owner of Swing Optical and treasurer of the Downtown Business Association, is looking forward to the excitement of the parade.

"As a business owner and member of the DBA, I am very happy to see so many great family events happening downtown. Just in the last few weeks, a large number of First Avenue businesses participated in Customer Appreciation Night as well as Cookie Night.

"It is nice to see people coming out as a community and recognizing the potential the downtown has."

"There are so many unique little businesses that people don't know about. These events help to raise awareness of the quality shopping Mission has to offer," Grewal said.

- Mission's Cultural Resources Commission recently held its second forum on Nov. 19 at the Mission Leisure Centre.

Organizer Sharon Syrette, explained that a major theme emerged from this discussion - to promote Mission as a City of Festivals.

Syrette said there are a lot of events already happening and some that have disappeared but could be brought back.

Currently most events are in the summer, which is such a busy time. Planners need to look at the calendar and see what festival would fit each month.

© Abbotsford Times 2009

Thanks..

Our Thanks
Jean Konda-Witte, The Times
Published: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Abbotsford-Mission Times wishes to thank Ken Herar, our judges, the winners and the many entrants for making this year's Building An Inclusive Diverse Community essay contest a huge success. We'd also like to thank Abbotsford Community Services, Mission White Spot, Punjabi Patrika (publisher Andy Sidhu), The Link and all the local schools that allowed us to make presentations.
Those singled out for their great work in the inaugural Building An Inclusive, Diverse Community essay contest, sponsored by the Abbotsford-Mission Times, were, from the left, Suman Dhillon (honourable mention), Aaron Myales (third place), Ken Herar (contest co-ordinator), Mike Westwick (winner) and Jaskiran Sidhu (second place).
© Abbotsford Times 2009

A Memorial SoftBall Tourney with a Cause...

Despite warm weather conditions the 11th Annual Sherry Pawa Kaila and
Friends Memorial Softball Tournament was an overwhelming success. Myself and
Link Editor Paul Dhillon ventured under the bright hot sun last weekend to
catch some fine softball skills and rays at Riverway Park in Burnaby.
Looking back at this years Link Diversity Question: What have you done or
could you do to include someone into your culture or community organization?
Reflecting back in the stands with a hot dog and a soda, sporting events are
a terrific way to include people into your culture. All teams are co-ed with
men and women participants and carry a multicultural mix on the diamond
including a variety of levels. This tournament attracts hundreds of
participants and spectators from across the province remembering Sherry and
the traffic accident that claimed two lives and injured many on August 1997
in Seattle. Having participated four years ago and a baseball mitten that is
relativity new, I couldn't think of a better way to remember the victims,
raise money for charity and have fun all during a weekend family outing.

Sherry's older sister Lali Pawa shared these words, "On August,8,1997 a car
accident took the life of a young and beautiful woman, named Sherry Pawa
Kaila. She was a loving wife, a special daughter and an amazing friend who
touched the lives of many people. In her memory, family and friends have
organized a softball tournament for the last 10 years". " A softball
tournament was chosen because it was viewed as an event that would allow for
family and friends to come together and participate in a co-ed game. All the
money raised from the tournaments has been sent to the BC CHILDREN'S
HOSPITAL and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vancouver", said Pawa.

The first tournament held 11 years ago had 14 teams and raised $5,000
dollars. Each consecutive year since the tournament has grown to 40 teams
raising over $150,000. This year, there were 18 teams participating with all
proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Vancouver and the total
dollar figures are still being calculated.

When we talk about some of the great Indo Canadian charitable causes and
social events that take place in British Columbia this has to rank as one of
them. Having organized many tennis tournaments, I know the commitment and
energy it takes to run an event of this magnitude. Supposedly, organizers
meet several months prior putting endless hours to discuss and plan this
event. Everyone involved on and off the field including sponsors should feel
proud of their generosity over the last 11 years assisting many unfortunate
people.

Sporting events are a terrific way to share culture. The recent Euro 2008
soccer tournament is a great example and the many countries who bring their
spirit and culture to the game. The upcoming 2010 Winter Olympic Games in
Vancouver will be another example how we can learn and share culture with
people from around the globe.

According to Pawa their will be a 12 Annual tourney and hopefully more in
the future.
KenHerar@gmail.com

Building An Inclusive, Diverse Community..

Westwick shines with worthy words of wisdom

Ken Herar, The Times

Published: Tuesday, November 24, 2009

"As has always been true, people are intimidated by the unknown, and if the unknown is reduced then people will be more willing to take it upon themselves to improve community diversity."

Those are the inspirational words of Mission's Mike Westwick, a media and communications student at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Westwick, an aspiring journalist, is this year's worthy winner of the Times' Building An Inclusive, Diverse Community essay contest.

His essay was powerful, passionate and concise. His words reveal a touching truth, catching the imagination and approval of all six of our judges.

Westwick's words also parrot our sentiments at the Times to eliminate the unknown factor in our communities and create a brighter future for everyone.

As the 2009 winner, Westwick is receiving an honourary ticket from Abbotsford Community Services to attend the Fraser Valley Cultural Diversity Awards on March 5, 2010 at the Ramada Plaza and Conference Centre in Abbotsford.

Those who took part in this year's contest responded to the question "What have you done, or what can you do, to make our community more inclusive?"

I have been truly blessed these past four months meeting people from all walks of life and having the opportunity to speak at various local venues.

The road to the final four has been one of hard work and perseverance.

In fact, what we have learned here is that walking along the path of diversity is not a lonely journey - thankfully!

I would like to thank Times' publisher Fred Armstrong and editor Gord Kurenoff who encouraged me to spread the important words of tolerance, togetherness and love.

Our team of judges was brilliant and their individual efforts are appreciated. Out of 40-plus final entries they respectfully narrowed it down to the finest four.

For those who were not selected please try again next year.

There were many fantastic submissions and the toughest part is telling someone they didn't make it to this final stage.

Kudos to Mike Westwick, Jaskiran Sidhu, Aaron Myales and Suman Dhillon.

And thanks to everyone who entered and demonstrated that we have a lot of caring youth who want their community to be more inclusive.

© Abbotsford Times 2009

Making a Difference at the BC Summer Games..

Nov 20 2003

It's time to get involved again

By Ken Herar

As the New Year slowly approaches it is time to get excited about new things.

In eight-and-a-half months Abbotsford will host the B.C. Summer Games, guided by a capable team of 15 directors led by Milt Walker.

The excitement is building around town quickly and preparations are being made for this to be the best B.C. Summer Games ever for athletes across this province!

The July 15-18 sports spectacle is something that is close to my heart as I have competed on six different occasions. They are a learning experience for athletes who travel to various communities across this province and compete in their respective sports.

This feature makes the Games special: travelling to different cities and enjoying the hospitality of the host city. The Games experience has a lasting effect on athletes throughout their lives.

The Games are not only about competition, but are also about meeting new people and having fun. Every time I competed at the Games I have met an endless amount of friends with whom I have kept in touch with over the years.

The first time I competed away from home was in 1985 at the Games in Victoria. That experience helped me build character, but the Games are also a beautiful way to promote our province and cities to athletes who may never get a chance to travel to various B.C. destinations.

The City of Abbotsford has a proven track record, as it hosted the 1995 Western Canadian Games and the 2002 Disability Games, something which the citizens of this fine city should be proud of.

Abbotsford is known as one of the best sports towns in this province and for having some of the best, modern facilities for athletes. There is no better choice than Abbotsford to host the Games next year.

It takes some 4,000 volunteers to host the Games.

Volunteers will not only come from Abbotsford but from surrounding communities such as Aldergrove for it to be a success.

The benefits for the area are enormous. I have decided to become a volunteer next year with the team of 60 people specifically required for the Games' News Services, chaired by the editor of the Abbotsford News, Rick Rake.

The Games have given me so much in terms of character building that I wanted to give back.

Looking back at my experiences at the Games I have been fortunate to win six medals in tennis but never the gold and I am very thankful for that opportunity. By becoming a volunteer, I see myself involved in a gold medal experience.

I would like to encourage all of you to get involved by volunteering in any capacity to make this the best B.C. Summer Games yet.

Volunteerism brings pride to the area and neighbouring communities like Aldergrove.

It shows that we have real people who care about others in an unselfish way.

During the Games, Abbotsford will be host more than 3,000 athletes from every corner of this province. We hope to see you there!

© Copyright 2007 Aldergrove Star