Montreal, September 2022 – The Bharat Bhavan Foundation (BBF) is hosting a day-long forum, Building Bridges for a Better Community, to unite the 55,000-strong Indo-Canadian Montreal community and launch various services to unify, build intercultural relations and strengthen Canadian citizenship. This is the third forum of its kind. Admission is free.
Since 1984, Bharat Bhavan Foundation is engaged in the wellbeing of the community and offers a variety of integration programs through language classes, translation & interpretation, orientation services to new immigrants, access to government programs, computer skills development, youth cultural activities and services to seniors.
Reflecting on the state of disarray within his community and the impact of Bill 96 on the social fabric of society at large, Foundation Chair Rashter Sharma kept searching for answers and solutions, and came up with this forum, “Building Bridges for a Better Community is about building relationships and making connections,” said Rashter. “‘Bridge’ is a metaphor for connecting peoples, societies, cultures, communities, different generations and more. The Bharat Bhavan Foundation is also developing a website platform to connect our community at large.”
Building Bridges for a Better Community aims to launch the following new initiatives:
- Establish community centers across the city
- Establish facilities to host cultural, social, educational, and recreational events
- Establish a family welfare bureau
- Provide social housing (subsidized) for the elderly and needy
- Establish a daycare center, and shelter for women and youth
- Conduct research/studies on social issues such as integration, discrimination & human rights
The Bharat Bhavan Foundation is a secular non-profit charity founded in 1984 to promote the community’s social, economic, educational, cultural and spiritual development. Seeking inspiration from the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi, the foundation has dedicated itself to serving less fortunate people and new immigrants. BBF strives to promote non-violence, religious tolerance, mutual respect, social integration and family harmony, and maintain a network of social service centers for the community. It provides services to all members of the South Asian community and aspires to be a role model for secularism and tolerance in Canadian society.
The foundation currently runs programs such as Aasra: network for the communities’ social well-being, Khaana-Khajana Food for Thought: informative lecture series over a meal with discussion, Masti: fashion & dance show, Mulaqaat: entertainment gatherings and Jhankkar: Hindustani music & dance.
For the 2022 forum, the list of speakers includes Rashter Sharma, Bharat Bhavan Foundation chair & community worker; Nilambri Ghai, novelist and writer; John Fiset; Jasmine Sharma Khatri; Ratna Ghosh, Prof. McGill University; Bhagwant Sandhu, retired director general, government of Canada; Sunder Singh, executive director Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women, Ontario; Sanjiv Marwaha, CEO Fermos; and Dr. Arvind Joshi, respected health professional.
