Merry Christmas 2023!

 Merry Christmas 

Everyone!!!

Published in "The Path" - New collection out now!

Newly released from The Polar Expressions Publishing, just in time for the holidays!  Pick up your copy of The Path, a wonderful new collection of short stories, which features my new short story, Ocean Garbage. 

A perfect holiday gift for the avid readers in your life! 

My story, Ocean Garbage, is a story of destiny. Some may call it a wild coincidence, some may call it fate, but ultimately the message is abundantly clear, what's meant to be will be.

Read my new short story as well as great short stories from many other excellence Canadian writers. 

Order your copy here now! http://polarexpressions.ca/Shop  

Published in "Flicker" - New book out now!

 Now out from The Polar Expressions Publishing, just in time for the Christmas season!  Pick up your copy of Flicker, a wonderful new collection of poetry, which features my new poem, Marauding of the Turtle.  

The perfect holiday gift for all the avid readers in your life! 

Read my new poem as well as other excellent poetry from many other talented Canadian writers. 

Flicker is available now for purchase. Order your copy here: http://polarexpressions.ca/Shop   

Ontario Volunteer Service Award 2023

This evening I was honoured to once again be a recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Service Award for my 15 years of volunteering in schools and the education community. This 2023 award presentation ceremony was held in downtown Toronto. 

The Ontario Volunteer Service Award recognizes volunteers for providing committed and dedicated service to an organization in the province. All volunteers in Ontario are eligible for this award who have contributed more than five years of volunteer service. 

A number of special guests also came out to help present the awards!  I was honoured to receive my award from NDP MPP Chris Glover as well as two other MPPs. 

Thank you to the great province of Ontario for this recognition. I am honoured to be a 2023 recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Service Award. 

Orange Shirt Day & National Truth and Reconciliation Day

Today is the third annual National Truth and Reconciliation Day and the tenth annual Orange Shirt Day.

For those who may not know, here's a quick rundown. Residential Schools in Canada where meant to take in Indigenous Children of Turtle Island (Canada) and strip them of their heritage and ways of life, ultimately eliminating their culture. In 1973, a young six-year-old girl named Phyllis Webstad entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, British Columbia, she was forced to remove her favourite new orange shirt that her grandmother had bought her, along with everything else. Phyllis is just one unfortunate story and example of over 150,000. Phyllis' story is what inspired Orange Shirt Day. 

There is also the famous story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack, among thousands more. See Gord Downie's hit song "Secret Path" here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za2VzjkwtFc.

In honour of today, I wanted to share a poem I wrote a couple years ago. Enjoy!

Ghost from the Past

By Vickram Bachan

 

An ancient dialect forcefully silenced,

Oppressed and intended to be extinguished;

Believed to have been dead and extinct long ago. 

But amid the crimes of abuse, and violence, and hate,

it endured and thrived back into life,

Back into the open.

Not eradicated but vindicated.

The descendants of an ancient people 

Fighting for their ancestors,

And fighting for justice, 

Wanting to reclaim what was once rightfully theirs,

What was stolen from them;

But also willing to forgive,

If the other side is willing to reconcile.

The truth has been unearthed,

And the bloodstained lies of the past exposed.

Their stories have changed the history books

And made them more accurate.

The fantastical fables of our ‘amazing’ origins

Shoved down our throats 

now proven to be false.

Apologies have been made 

for the genocide and discrimination,

But there is still much work to be done.

Wronged, so very wronged,

Yet they are willing to forgive,

If the other side is willing to reconcile. 

The inequity of Canada's awards system and the Governor General's office

   

Screenshot from GG's webpage in 2018 which has since been taken down

                                  

Before I begin, let me first just say that in no way is this meant to be me whining and complaining, I am simply expressing my complete disappointment with the inequality and discrimination I continue to face. Everything I'm about to say is my opinion based on my experience and observations, I also provide factual evidence to back it up. 

On September 24, 2018, I was awarded to Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers. At the time I was told that I would have to wait up to two years to receive my medal in a presentation ceremony. Every year in April there is a presentation ceremony at Rideau Hall. I asked if I could attend this ceremony to be presented with my medal from the Governor General, after near a year of going back and forth the with Governor General's office on the matter, I received this unbelievably offensive email from the GG's office on July 3, 2019:  

Hi Vickram,

Thank you for your email. I need to inform you that the Governor General only presents to a limited number of SMV recipients each year due to her busy schedule. These recipients are selected based on a variety of factors, such as geographical representation, language, gender, and field of contribution. Therefore it is not likely that you will ever be invited to a presentation ceremony in Ottawa with the Governor General.  

We are currently in communication with the office of the mayor of Toronto to organize a presentation ceremony for all of the SMV recipients who live in Toronto and if the mayor is available to present the SMV to the recipients from Toronto, your name will be added to the invitation list. If you do not wish to receive your medal from the mayor of Toronto, you have 2 options: either you can ask the school where you volunteer to present it to you or we can mail the medal directly to your home. 

I know that it must be disappointing for you to learn that you will not be receiving your medal from the Governor General. However, receiving the medal from the mayor of Toronto is still a special honour and I am sure that it will be a lovely presentation ceremony. As of now, there is no date set for the presentation ceremony with the mayor of Toronto, so I ask for your patience. 

Thank you for understanding,  ...

While I would very much love to share the name of this person, for obvious reasons I will not reveal their identity. 

I had emailed, for what felt like the twentieth time, to ask if I’d be attending the presentation ceremony with the Governor General at Rideau Hall, and in reply I received a very upsetting inappropriate and offensive email as to why I wouldn't be getting my medal from the Governor General, which I’ve copy and pasted above for you to see. I’ve admittedly been really upset about it ever since because it felt very discriminatory. Even though I was upset by this, I then agreed to receive my medal from the Mayor of Toronto, but that never happened either. 

When I last heard from them, it was by email on September 24, 2020 (exactly two years after I was awarded the honour) when I was informed that the pandemic had put a hold on everything involving presentation ceremonies. I was originally told in 2018 when I was awarded the honour that a presentation ceremony would happen up to two years after I was awarded the honour, understandably the pandemic affected this and many other things. But things have gone back to normal now and I keep seeing posts on social media of other people receiving their awards.  As of today, I have been patiently waiting for exactly five full years to receive my medal. Tomorrow is never guaranteed, and it's disappointing that I have been waiting this long to be invited to a presentation ceremony. 

I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised. Just look at this video from the inaugural presentation on April 12, 2016. It's so blatantly obvious that only white people were invited to the ceremony. https://youtu.be/  That clearly set the precedent because this hasn't changed. 

Also check out this article from 2021 by the CBC about the Order of Canada. It's all from the same Governor General's office that runs the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers, again I shouldn't be surprised that it's all only white people getting it. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/order-of-canada-appointments 

Last year, on April 29, 2022, I was told by the GG's office that a note was placed on my file to receive my medal at Rideau Hall from the Governor General. But here I am still waiting, five years after I was initially awarded the honour. 

It's been extremely disappointing, I had hope that after a new Governor General was appointed,  especially since it was one that is not white and the first indigenous one, that things would change. Unfortunately that hasn't seemed to be the case. I am extremely disappointed, disgusted and upset, for myself and everyone else who is in the same type of situation and dealing with this inequitable BS. All the diversity and equity promoting is just for show, it obviously doesn't really mean anything, which is very disheartening and increasingly despondent. It's just sad, one would expect better from Canada in 2023. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE - October 15, 2023.: 

Just sharing some articles and media videos from the recent news. Clearly it has become common to honour former Nazi members in the Canadian House of Parliament with standing ovations and give them medals than it is to recognize our own hardworking Canadians. Extremely disappointing and upsetting, this country is broken and has lost it's sense of priorities and morals. Our own Canadian citizens are overlooked and taken for granted.  See below. 

https://nationalpost.com/news/governor-general-apologizes-for-order-of-canada-awarded-to-waffen-ss-memberOTTAWAGovernorGeneraHouseofCommons

https://www.youtube.com/watchXV30oA

https://www.cp24.com/news/rideau-hall-apologizes-for-honouring-nazi-veteran-with-order-of-canada-in-1987

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ottawa-carefully-considering-unsealing-records-after-recognition-of-another-nazi-veteran-comes-to-light

https://www.youtube.com/watchLbWN7qI  

https://www.youtube.com/watchd7sFxJbcYvg

Flicker - new poetry collection PRE-ORDER NOW!

Flicker, a brand new collection of poetry by Canadians from the Polar Expressions Publishing is now available for pre-order. I am excited to announce that my new poem, Marauding of the Turtle will be featured in this amazing book. 

This collection will be released and shipped in December, just in time for the holiday season.  Pre-order your copy now exclusively from The Polar Expressions Publishing!

Order your copies now: http://polarexpressions.ca/Shop 

The Path - new collection of short stories PRE-ORDER NOW!

 

The Path, a brand new collection of short stories by Canadian from the Polar Expressions Publishing is now available for pre-order. I am also excited to announce that my new story, Ocean Garbage will be featured in this amazing book. 

This collection will be released and shipped in December, just in time for the holiday season.  Pre-order your copy now exclusively from The Polar Expressions Publishing!

Order your copies now: http://polarexpressions.ca/Shop

TDSB Excellence Awards 2023

Yesterday I was so honoured and humbled to receive the TDSB Excellence Award for the second time in my career in education. I'm so proud to be a 2023 recipient!  I am only the second person in history to have ever received this award twice. The first time I received it was back in 2017 and I hold the record for being the youngest recipient ever, being 22 at the time I was first nominated. 

The award's presentation ceremony was held yesterday evening at the TDSB's Forest Valley Outdoor Education Centre.  I was honoured to once again be nominated by not only a friend and colleague, but a former teacher. 

To see more about the 2023 TDSB Excellence Awards winners check out the Excellence Awards page on the TDSB's website.  https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Excellence 

FHA