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from his visit to Edmonton in 1998 celebrat- ing the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which Bhatia chaired, the other from an in- terview with Bhatia when Tutu passed away.
But, even though he’s 92 years of age, he is still working with Canadians for a Civil Society, an organization he helped found in 2010.
“Iaminmy90s,butIstillhavealotof energy. Canada is a great country, but it can be even better.”
Bhatia’s family was forced to flee what is now Pakistan during the Partition. As a Sikh family living in a place that was being ceded to the Muslim population, Bhatia saw
what hatred could do. Scores of his family members, including his father, were killed.
“I saw how racism tore India apart,” he says.
When he was a student in Glasgow, he and a friend took a weekend trip to London to see the sights. While at a museum, he saw a group of visitors on a tour; they were all of different races. So, when he over- heard the guide ask the group where they were all from, he was surprised to hear that they all answered “Canada.”
He first came to Winnipeg, but then made Edmonton his permanent home. And, he never stopped fighting for human rights.
After swearing in thousands of new Canadians, he wondered: Are there any characteristics that all of these immigrants share? From this, he helped form the Canadians for a Civil Society — a group that wanted to create some “pillars” for this country. Three years after the project began, five common needs were agreed upon:
1. That Canada must honour the rights and have respect for every human;
2. That we must strive for 100 per cent
literacy; knowledge is the key to a
civil society
3. That we must honour the rule of law
4. That we respect the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms
5. That we uphold the United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
Bhatia also co-founded Daughters Day
in Alberta, which celebrates the role of women in society. Bhatia says he is an independent thinker who votes on the basis of policies and issues, not party allegiance, but he is proud of where Alberta and Edmonton are now.
“Both leaders of the political parties in Alberta are female. Of the 12 city councillors, eight are female. We are beginning to get better equality.” ED.
300. That’s the milestone that Lesley MacDonald had
recently hit when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in early 2020. Once a month since its inception in 1995, MacDonald had pro- filed extraordinary Edmonton women on Global TV’s Woman of Vision series, which she produced and hosted. The program was even set to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a special dinner, which was canceled weeks before it was supposed to take place.
Although Woman of Vision has been on hiatus since its last profile, which was
of former RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in February of 2020, MacDonald
3.
VISION QUEST
Lesley MacDonald’s career showcases extraordinary women — just like her
BY RENATO PAGNANI
continues to tell stories as she works with the board on how to reinvent the series — which has won three national broadcasting awards over its run — hopefully in 2025. She also continues running her communications firm New ViewPoint Communications, which she also launched in 1995.
MacDonald’s passion for storytelling emerged when she was a young girl in Campbellton, New Brunswick. Her family attended Expo 67 in Montreal, and it was in the long lines at the exhibition where MacDonald discovered her fascination with people and their stories. →
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