RICHMOND – Community activist and LINK Columnist Balwant Sanghera was honoured with the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Award from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General hosts the Solicitor General.
Sanghera was awarded the Solicitor General Community Safety and Crime Prevention Award –Lifetime on November 4.
The Awards celebrate and recognize the individuals and groups that have made oustanding contributions to crime prevention and community safety in B.C. This year the awards were part of B.C. Crime Prevention Week, which took place from November 1 to 7.
“This year’s award nominees have demonstrated a high level of commitment to crime prevention in their communities. These awards are in honour of the time and effort given by individuals and groups across B.C. in making our communities safe,” said Solicitor General Shirley Bond.
Sanghera is a retired school psychologist and community activist who has been very active in crime prevention in his community for a long time. He arrived from India in 1966 with a B.Sc. degree from Punjab University.
After receiving his B.Ed degree from Notre Dame University, Sanghera began working as a teacher at the Hudson Hope Elementary/ Junior Secondary School in Hudson Hope in northern BC in 1968.After teaching there for five years, he accepted a position in Lilloet, BC. There he was elected as a councilor (Alderman) in 1975. Sanghera was elected for six consecutive terms often topping the polls. He received his Master of Education degree from UBC in 1983. In 1990, Sanghera accepted a position as School Psychologist with Burnaby School District .He continued in this position till his retirement in 2004. In this position Mr. Sanghera helped to develop educational programs at the Maples Adolescent Centre that served the young people with social, emotional, mental and behavioural problems.
A well-respected role model for youth and adults alike, Sanghera has been actively involved with several organizations. These include serving as a senator at S.F.U and as a Board member at Langara College, College of Naturopathic Physicians of BC, and BCTF’s Committee of Ombudspersons. He has served both as a director and president of Richmond Multicultural Community Services, a society that provides new immigrants with language, settlement and advocacy programs.
As a result of his service to the community Sanghera has received several awards over the years. These include the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Order of British Columbia (2004). In 2009, Sanghera was also voted as one of Top 25 Canadian Immigrants by publication Canadian Immigrant. He was also voted as one of the Top 10 Citizens of Richmond in the Sept. 28,2011 Readers’ Choice special issue of the Richmond News. He has also received an Extraordinary Achievement (Heritage Defender) Award from Darpan Magazine.
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