Sikh Canadians

[Punjabi_Link]

Jews held in highest esteem, national poll shows

Amount of contact influences approval

JEFF HEINRICH, The Gazette

Published: Sunday, September 09

Canadians think highly of Jews, less well of Muslims and even less well of Sikhs, a new national poll suggests.

Asked whether they had a favourable opinion of each group, the 1,500 people surveyed by Léger Marketing across Canada said they hold Jews in the highest esteem (78 per cent), Muslims considerably lower (61 per cent) and Sikhs least of all (53 per cent).

And in each case, how much a person approves of one of the minority religions depends on how much contact he or she has had with them. The more contact, the higher the esteem, the poll found.

Forty-five per cent of Canadians are in contact with Jews often or occasionally, according to the poll. Only 37 per cent are in touch with Muslims, and only 21 per cent with Sikhs.

The high level of contact with Jews may be surprising, because in fact there are fewer Jews than Muslims in Canada.

According to the 2001 federal census (religion data from the 2006 census are not yet available), there are 330,000 Jews in Canada and 580,000 Muslims. Sikhs number 278,000.

By contrast, there are 13 million Roman Catholics in Canada, almost 9 million Protestants, and nearly half a million Christian Orthodox (as well as 297,000 Hindus and 300,000 Buddhists). About 4.8 million Canadians in 2001 said they have no religion.

Where the minorities live varies, and so does the majority's contact with them.

People in Ontario, B.C. and the Prairies have the most contact with Jews - around one in two people there sees them often or occasionally - whereas in Quebec, only one in three people is in contact with them. Muslims are most often interacted with in Alberta (48 per cent), Ontario (43 per cent) and B.C. (35 per cent).

Sikhs are best-known in B.C. (44 per cent), Alberta (30 per cent) and Ontario (25 per cent); they're virtually unknown in Quebec (four per cent, lowest in the country).

Approval ratings also vary widely by province.

Only 69 per cent of Quebecers have a favourable opinion of Jews - the lowest level in Canada. By contrast, Jews are held in highest esteem in the Maritimes (85 per cent), the Prairies (84 per cent) and Ontario (80 per cent).

Muslims fare best in Ontario and the Maritimes (about 66 per cent) and worst in Quebec (52 per cent). Sikhs are best-regarded in B.C. (66 per cent), Ontario (59 per cent) and Alberta (51 per cent).

About one in 10 people polled refused to answer the question or simply didn't know what they thought, except regarding Sikhs. For Sikhs, a higher percentage - one in four - refused or didn't answer, perhaps reflecting lack of knowledge of Sikhs (except in B.C., where 14 per cent declined to answer or had no opinion).

Conducted for the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies, the telephone poll was done over seven days from

Aug. 22 to 28. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...a9-26eb5be817b5

[Mehtab Singh]

Its all coz of those "Amritdharis" :D

[Punjabi_Link]

Its all coz of those "Amritdharis" :D

LMAO.

Let's stay on topic though. Canadians don't view Sikhs highly at all. Sikhs in Canada need to clean up their image.

[Mehtab Singh]

Its all coz of those "Amritdharis" :D

LMAO.

Let's stay on topic though. Canadians don't view Sikhs highly at all. Sikhs in Canada need to clean up their image.

Lets be clear on which type of Sikhs have earned this bad name. One is who "show" that they are Sikhs by wearing an external uniform, and the others who don't look Sikh but "do the dirty work", and "give more money to the Gurdwaare so that they keep running" (as if Gurujee's darbaar depended on some of these so-called....never mind).

Who are the ones to earn this bad name?

[Punjabi_Link]

Its all coz of those "Amritdharis" :D

LMAO.

Let's stay on topic though. Canadians don't view Sikhs highly at all. Sikhs in Canada need to clean up their image.

Lets be clear on which type of Sikhs have earned this bad name. One is who "show" that they are Sikhs by wearing an external uniform, and the others who don't look Sikh but "do the dirty work", and "give more money to the Gurdwaare so that they keep running" (as if Gurujee's darbaar depended on some of these so-called....never mind).

Who are the ones to earn this bad name?

The ones who are fighting in the gurdwaras are the main culprits IMO. Also the whole air india bombing case didn't help the community's image at all. Remember not to confuse the term "sikh" and "indo-canadian". The media doesn't use the word "sikh" when comes to gang violence in Punjabi community in Canada.

P.S. "Guru ji's darbar" is depended on a lot of money here in the west. all big and fancy gurdwaras aren't built and run free here in the west. You still got to pay expenses of running the place espeically for all these big and fancy gurdwaras.

[OhTwadi]

P.S. "Guru ji's darbar" is depended on a lot of money here in the west. all big and fancy gurdwaras aren't built and run free here in the west. You still got to pay expenses of running the place espeically for all these big and fancy gurdwaras.

do you think, a guru ghar won't be functional if you didn't put ur 25 cents or 1 dollar in golak everytime you went?

think before typing, have some respect.

[Mehtab Singh]

P.S. "Guru ji's darbar" is depended on a lot of money here in the west. all big and fancy gurdwaras aren't built and run free here in the west. You still got to pay expenses of running the place espeically for all these big and fancy gurdwaras.

As a matter of fact I am in the west as well. And no Gurujee's darbar is not dependant on anyone. People are solely dependant on the darbaar. They are the ones who come and ask for whatever they want in life. Gurujee doesn't go asking people for money. All the money that is needed to "run" these "big and fancy" Gurdwaare is what the sangat "offers" at Gurujee's feet, its not a donation. And if you come to think of it, this money is not their own.

kbIr myrw muJ mih ikCu nhI jo ikCu hY so qyrw ]

kabeer maeraa mujh mehi kishh nehee jo kishh hai so thaeraa ||

Kabeer, nothing is mine within myself. Whatever there is, is Yours, O Lord.

qyrw quJ kau saupqy ikAw lwgY myrw ]203]

thaeraa thujh ko soupathae kiaa laagai maeraa ||203||

If I surrender to You what is already Yours, what does it cost me? ||203||