Regardless of theological differences, Sundre mayor says people have more in common than not

SUNDRE – Despite some theological differences among the world’s religions, the municipality’s mayor believes humanity has more in common that connects us than divides.

“We just don’t realize we have it in common,” said Richard Warnock, who was among a delegation of four council members that earlier in March was joined by one administrative employee for a guided visit at the Dashmesh Culture Centre in Calgary.

Warnock shared his thoughts on the experience during an interview with the Albertan.

“They were very welcoming and they wanted to show us what they do,” he said.

The roughly 1.5-hour visit included an approximately 30-minute tour of the facility conducted by some of the culture centre’s executive members. Alongside the mayor were his council colleagues Chris Vardas, Owen Petersen and Jaime Marr, while the municipality’s manager of planning and economic development Benazir Thaha Valencia also attended.

“They hosted us there at their culture centre and gave us a full tour of the facility,” said Warnock.

Recalling the second-level floor as being dedicated to the cultural and religious aspects of Sikhism – the world’s fifth largest religion – Warnock described the main ground floor as an inclusive, family-friendly area boasting a volunteer-run community kitchen that is available to anyone and “serves food pretty well all day.”

“They believe everybody gets to eat; no one goes hungry,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be someone from their membership; anybody’s welcome there.”

Warnock said he was impressed by “how tidy and clean” the kitchen was kept by the volunteers and that the delegates from Sundre enjoyed the pleasure of sampling some menu items that were made available.

“I just felt that they portrayed friendly-family service,” he said. “They really are a close-knit group.”

Representatives from the culture centre also provided the Sundre delegation with an overview of their organization’s initiatives, including developing a shelter for women and children enduring risky conditions at home, he said.

“That’s in their future plans,” he said. “They’re trying for short-term accommodations for women and children that are in a domestic situation.”

A portion of the visit also included an introduction to some of the centre’s elders who played a pivotal role in laying the initial groundwork that eventually paved the way to build the facility, he said.

“They were very willing to chat with us if we wished,” he said.

Although there was a bit of a language barrier, Raj Sidhu, the centre’s director of operations, helped bridge that communication gap by helping translate when required, he said.

“(Sidhu) would help us with any interpretation or questions that we had,” said the mayor, later adding, “It was a good visit” that “was worth the trip.”

The rapprochement represented the full circle of a reconciliatory effort to build cultural bridges and foster greater understanding following last year’s Sundre Pro Rodeo Parade in which one float entry out of about 100 featured a racialized caricature of the federal NDP’s leader Jagmeet Singh donning a mock beard and turban while sitting on a manure spreader branded The Liberal.

In the fallout of the ensuing controversy that led both Sundre Rodeo and Race Association president Shane Crouch as well as MLA Jason Nixon to denounce the float as racist, the Calgary Stetson Show Band and the Calgary Round-Up Band declared their intention to withdraw from future parades until changes are made to the registration process.

Members of the Dashmesh Culture Centre eventually extended a proverbial olive branch that the municipality embraced, leading to a cultural bridge-building Sikh motorcycle rally to Sundre last summer that ended up benefitting two local non-profit groups.

“It was out of respect for what they did for us by bringing $22,000 to our municipality,” Warnock said of council’s visit to Dashmesh, referring to two, $11,000 donations made to the Plus 1 Emergency Food Hamper Program run out of McDougal Chapel as well as the Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society.

While Warnock does not anticipate visiting the centre on a regularly recurring basis going forward, Sundre’s mayor certainly seemed to see a potential to keep open the lines of communication.

The mayor also said council was invited to consider the possibility of participating in an annual parade put on by the culture centre, and that he encouraged the organization to send all of the pertinent information about the event to the municipality so that the matter can be included on an upcoming agenda for council to discuss.

“I still think that we should keep the door open like they suggested,” he said. “And maybe we can do things together; maybe they’ll come and ride in our parade, or whatever the case might be.”

An interview request with a representative from the centre went unanswered.