By Balwant Sanghera
VANCOUVER: With Punjabi in Canada becoming the third largest spoken language, representatives from the Punjabi Language Education (PLEA) met officials of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) last week seeking more signs in the Punjabi language for passengers.
We at the Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA), in co-operation with Surrey Newton MLA Harry Bains, had sought this meeting with officials of the airport. The meeting was held on Thursday, August 7, in the administrative offices of the airport. Our delegation included three PLEA members – Sadhu Binning, Parvinder Dhariwal and myself.
In addition, we had three representatives from various gurdwaras. They were – Sohan Deo, President of Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver; Chain Batth, President of Gurdwara Nanak Niwa in Richmond; Narinder Singh Walia , President of Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran and spokesperson for eight Metro Vancouver Gurdwaras; former World Sikh Organization President and Community Activist Prem Singh Vinnin. The airport was represented by Reg Krake, Director of Customer Care, and Kathy Nyfors, Manager for Customer Care (Guest Relations).
The meeting took place in a very respectful and cordial environment. MLA Harry Bains and I conveyed our concerns regarding the status of Punjabi language signage at YVR. We requested YVR officials to look into this matter and take appropriate measures to ensure that Punjabi, the third most spoken language in Canada and Metro Vancouver, gets its rightful place at YVR and around the province.
Other members of the delegation reinforced our concerns and requested quick action in this regard. YVR representatives were very receptive to our concerns and assured us to look into this carefully. As a result of these discussions, it is likely that in the next few weeks Sadhu Binning and I will be invited for a guided tour of YVR (including the secure area)and make suggestions for improved /more/better signage in Punjabi. We will wait to hear from them. In the meantime, PLEA will be pursuing with Canada Border Service Agency and Destination (Tourism) BC the issue of Punjabi signage at entry points from Alaska, Alberta and Washington State.
For quite some time PLEA has been approached about poor translation of English materials into Punjabi. This relates to all three levels of government –local, provincial and federal. It has been noticed that a number of these translations are of very poor quality. In this context, on behalf of PLEA, I would like to urge all three levels of government to enlist the services of well qualified and duly certified translators to do the translation for them. PLEA would be more than pleased to assist in this regard. Also, I would request members of our community to be on the lookout and ensure that translations from English into Punjabi are done by fully qualified persons.
(Honoured with the Order of British Columbia, Balwant Sanghera is a community activist based in Richmond, BC)
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