Latest / Inspiring Stories / Baltej S. Dhillon Stands for the People He Serves

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Baltej S. Dhillon Stands for the People He Serves · Inspiring Stories

0:04
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the picture of the radiant rat.
0:28
Speaker 2: You readything to me? Oh well, well say, oh well,
0:57
not bad.
1:09
Speaker 1: I just see you.
1:14
Speaker 2: Solimash.
1:18
Speaker 1: So it says, welcome back everybody. Today we're going to
1:40
speak with Baldade Sing Dylan. He is a retired career
1:46
police officer. Well retired as it is an interesting word
1:52
because of what uh baldeg has has achieved and that
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he is currently sitting as a senator in Canada, so
2:06
retired looks very different for him. But let's continue. He
2:13
retired from being a police officer and he's still a
2:15
community leader and a lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion.
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Immigrating from Malaysia in nineteen eighty three, mister Dylan made
2:28
history in nineteen eighty one as the first Royal Canadian
2:34
Mounted Police Officer or RCMP officer to wear a turban,
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advocating for the right to practice his faith while serving Canada.
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Mister Dylan went on to have a successful thirty year career.
2:54
During the interview, mister Dylan may actually correct that figure
2:58
of the thirty year career with the RCMP with an
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accomplishment in major crimes. He was a police investigator a
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polygraphic examiner, intelligence officer, and an emergency planner. He played
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a role in several high profile investigations, which also include
3:24
the Air India flight and the Robert Picton case. Mister
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Dillon also held various leadership roles, including overseeing the British
3:36
Columbia Arts and p Divisional Emergency Operations Center and the
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Federal Series Organized Crime Intelligence Section also in British Columbia.
3:57
During our conversation, you're going to hear the mister is
4:01
an advocate for mental health and mental health also includes
4:08
addictions in his view and also leads to some of
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the work that he actually did with organized crimes because
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he was trying to stop drug traffic and the drugs
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having an effect a very negative effect on our community
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as well as people's mental health with addictions. In twenty thirteen,
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mister Dylan led his Zeke Leadership and Police Community on
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Gang Violence to support youth prevention strategies within the z community.
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Since retiring from the RCMP in twenty nineteen, he has
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worked as Program Manager for Crime and Guns Intelligence and
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Investigation Group with Combined Forces, an enforcement unit of British Columbia,
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to the province's Anti Gang Agencies. Mister Dillan has won
5:23
several awards, including a Lifetime Award from the Times of
5:32
Canada and the and the Queen Elizabeth to Diamond Jubilee Medal,
5:40
the Queen Elizabeth two Golden Jubilee Medal, and the RBC
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Top twenty five Canadian Immigrant Awards. Mister Dylon just believes
6:00
in standing up for our community and standing up for
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those people who need to be spoken for because our
6:15
society itself may be diminishing their voices. So why don't
6:20
we welcome Baldage to the show and listen to his
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part of his life story as he tells us what
6:32
it is that he really wants to achieve and and
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talks about the work that he has has done and
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is has ongoing. H Well, it's it's an honor to
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have you on the show. And you're when I consider
7:27
one of to be one of the great human beings
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because you kept standing up for diversity, you kept standing
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up for equality, and you continue to stand up for
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inclusion in all the work that you do just for
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the sake of what your daily routine looks like now
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because you're no longer an Art and p officer and
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you you have a you're serving the community in a
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very different way. What does it actually mean to be
7:56
a senator in Canada?
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Speaker 3: Or A thank you Michael. First of all, thank you
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for having me on your show. You know, it's such
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a pleasure of privilege. And we met a little while ago,
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and you know, I was very very much you know,
8:11
grateful for this opportunity to be able to share a
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few words. Yes, so my world has changed a little bit.
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I got appointed on February seventh, and that's the recommendation
8:23
of the Prime Minister to the Governor General, who is
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the person that ultimately is the one that.
8:29
Speaker 4: Appoints the citizens Canadians to the Senate.
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Speaker 3: So as a senator, I have yet to take part
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in any parliamentary sessions because we have When I was appointed,
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the Senate was provode, Parliament was provote, and since then
8:46
we've gone through an election, and while we were going
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through election, the Senate in Parliament was dissolved. And so
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we are going back into the forty fifth Parliament on
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the twenty sixth of May, which is coming up in
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about a week's time, and that is when we will
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restart all of the work. In the meantime, During this time,
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I have been attending various events.
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Speaker 4: Meeting with people.
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Speaker 3: Folks have reached out to me around a variety of issues,
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whether it's on issues around equity that we just spoke about,
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whether it's on issues of you know, personal harm that
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they're experiencing or things that have systems that are not working,
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or where they believe that they have been you know, wronged.
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So I've certainly getting that type of those types of
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emails and requests, and I've spoken to a lot of
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people since then, and I'm trying to support and assist
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them in some of the issues that they're experiencing. I've
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also traveled across the country in different places, or was
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in Montreal and Toronto, in Calgary.
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Speaker 4: And attending different events and lending my.
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Speaker 3: Voice to various work that is being conducted around the country,
10:02
where it's law enforcement and you know, advancing various strategies
10:08
in confronting the challenge of organized crime and the opiate
10:12
crisis that we're that we're moving through and the toxic
10:15
dart supply, or whether it's around just supporting organizations that
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are doing some fantastic work and building uh, you know,
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the next generation, supporting youth providing support for community that
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is struggling with mental health and addictions, that type of
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that type of advocacy work has been certainly part of
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the part of the duties, if you are, responsibilities that
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have taken on here since uh since being appointed as
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a senator in the Senate.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, on a mental health issue, what kind of
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changes do you think we should see, especially after the
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Lapou Lapoo incident where a person who was diagnosed with
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mental health uh was out on a day pass from
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wherever he was hospitalized, and this massive thing happens is
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they are are we looking into how we can re
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assess people or or make some major changes to to
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mental health in diagnosis. That so that it's shameful what
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happened to the people. It's also shameful that he was
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allowed out. They could have been prevented, right, incredible tragedy.
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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I certainly my heart goes up
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to the family members, the victims, the people of the community.
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And I certainly was one of those people, and I
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know many of us did picked up our phone the
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next morning when we heard about the event and reached
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out to all of our Filipino friends and just to
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make sure that they were safe and uh and talk
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to them and offer our both our support and connolences
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and so the.
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Speaker 4: And it would be it would be.
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Speaker 3: Inappropriate for me to comment on that case specifically, just
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because their process is underweight. Now there's an investigation, there's
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an inquiry, there's all kinds of work that's being done,
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and I certainly don't want to derail it or misleaded
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in any way, you know, and allow that process to
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take take its a due course. What I think, generally speaking,
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when it comes to mental health, there's a lot that
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we still don't know in my view, and there's a
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lot that we still are learning and our I mean
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because if we did, you know, we would not allow
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for tragedies like these to happen. If we did know
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everything that we need to know about how mental health
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impacts people and challenges folks, and you know, we had
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an understanding of that, we wouldn't have these types of events.
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So I think there's a lot there there's still being
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an uncertain expert in the mental health field, and you know,
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I wouldn't be able to comment too much on it.
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But what I what I do know and what I
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do understand is that this is an area that we
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do need to turn our attention towards. There are many
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that suffer that many that suffer from it, There are
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many that struggle with it. And you know, firstly removing
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the stigma round mental health and making sure that they're
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safe spaces and low barrier you know, approaches that we
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can provide for folks that are moving through a difficult
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time in their lives, whether it's through long term trauma,
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whether it's uh, you know, generational, or whether it's something
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that has come about because of you know, addiction or
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some other some other harm uh some other incidents. So
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with that, I think there are many organizations that are
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you know, already in place and we could use more UH.
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And I know all the provincial government is certainly turning
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their mind and their energy towards uh, you know, providing
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that support UH. And I think we all know that
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there are times where folks will not have you know,
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all of their facility to be able to make good decisions.
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And when that takes place and there are triggers or
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signals or you know, flags that come forward, I think
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we at that point as a community, as a society,
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we owe it both to that individual into the into
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society at large, to put in place measures that protects
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both the individual and society uh as they move through
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that time, and provide them with the support, provide them
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with whatever it is that they need to move through
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that period. Uh and to be able to come out
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of it on.
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Speaker 4: The other side better health here, being able.
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Speaker 3: To back into society and contributed a way that we
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all expect of each other and you know, honor the
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contract that we have with each other of being good citizens.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, well you answered answered the question. Exactly what
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I was looking for was. It wasn't like that specific event.
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It's like, how do we not have another one happen?
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You know? And that's and that's the contract between all
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of us as citizens, the citizens of our world. It
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is not to do harm to each other. So so yeah,
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and you're you're, you're, you are no stranger to people
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doing harm with each other. Because with thirty years as
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a police officer.
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Speaker 4: Yes, thirty five years, sorry.
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Speaker 3: That's all right, three nine twenty nine years in the RCMP,
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and then I spent another five and a half six
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years the Organized Crime Agency also the law enforcement as
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a police officer focused on organized crime and games.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, so I imagine that you did. You've seen
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more than one of of of what of these types
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of events happened? So you told a story when we
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were in the Surrey Library when I first actually got
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to meet you face to face instead of through uh,
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through a film about your early experiences as an ARC
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and P officer and someone who I would say was
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trying to be prejudiced towards you, but it backfired on
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it because you kept appearing doing your job. So maybe
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fill in the blanks on that a little bit.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think you know, And that's not just
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one story. There are many instances like that, and I
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think you know, we certainly my journey in the r
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c MP was a little unique and to the journey
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of many others, being the first to churven r c
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n B also the first one to be allowed to
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wear turven in the r c MP.
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Speaker 4: You know, after a very long drawn out, you know,
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sort of debate.
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Speaker 3: Within within within Canada, within within the within the public, you.
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Speaker 4: Know, over over a year and a half nineteen eighty
17:36
nine to about nineteen ninety.
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Speaker 3: Where you know, the question around symbols and religious religious articles,
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traditional articles that we hold a deer and are important
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to who we are as individuals, and it's part of
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our identity and how we present ourselves daily. Uh, it
18:01
was being questioned, and you know, I certainly was challenged
18:05
by the RCMP to abandon my articles of faith and
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shave my beard, remove my turban, and to comply with
18:13
the existing uniform at the time, which really was in
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contraard was it was in contravention of the Charter of Rights, uh,
18:25
and the rights that we all hold as citizens of
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this country. So I wasn't prepared to, uh, you know,
18:34
compromise who I was, my identity. And you know, I've
18:38
often said that if I was prepared to compromise something
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so important to myself that I would give up my
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identity and my faith, my way of life, then I
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don't know what the RCMB. How could the RCM be
18:53
replace trust in me? How would they ever have confidence
18:56
in me to carry out the work on a daily basis?
18:59
If I could sell myself in a simple way, and
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I guess I'd put it that way, why wouldn't I
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then sell myself just to the next highest bidder that
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came along and said, well, we'll give you this much,
19:10
and uh, you know, would be the r CNP. So
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I think principles and values are important, and these were
19:17
my principles and these were my values that I was
19:19
not prepared to abandon and so but they you know,
19:22
classed with the r c MP's UH policy uniform policy
19:27
and UH. And there was a there was a period
19:29
of time where we needed to reflect and what is
19:32
it that we are hoping to accountlish share in Canada.
19:35
What is it that you know, multicultural multicultural resum really
19:38
means it was part of the constitution. What does it
19:40
mean to be a Canadian citizen with rights under the
19:43
Trumpet rights? All those questions were you know, and foreign
19:47
and center. So you know, there were many that felt
19:50
that I should comply and conform with the r CNP
19:54
uniform but that wasn't the law.
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Speaker 4: The policy. The uniform policy is simply that policy.
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Speaker 3: The law and the rights are what supersede all things,
20:05
even the laws of this country. The rights of citizens
20:07
supersede uh. You know, laws cannot be a laws cannot uh,
20:14
you know, supersede the rights of an individual. And so
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the first thing that the RCMV officer does is make
20:19
sure that the rights of an individual are protected and
20:23
we have to have reasonable violence to arrest someone. We
20:25
must have you know, evidence to allow us to take
20:30
away the very uh, you know, an important right that
20:35
we all hold dear, which is our right to freedom.
20:38
And so when it comes to our rights, uh, they
20:41
are you know, they are supreme, they are the absolute
20:47
you know direction that that is the absolute instruction of
20:50
this country, that this is how we will behave So
20:52
when the policy of the r c MP came face
20:55
to face with the Charter of Rights, it did not
20:58
it could not withstand and that test, and that is
21:02
why the change was made. It's not because of me
21:05
or anything like that, but it was this is the
21:07
rule of law of this land. This is who we
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are as Canadians, this is what Canada is about, and
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this is what we fought for. This is these are
21:15
the rights that we fought for. These are the rights
21:16
that we hold dear and so and they should be
21:20
applied across the board to all Canadians. And it was
21:26
important that at that time, you know, that was announced
21:30
and so certainly by allowing me to uh, you know,
21:35
keep my articles of faith and serve was just the
21:39
technical process that we went through in making sure that
21:45
the Charter rights were uphold and my rights were UPHELDLD.
21:51
Speaker 4: What comes after that.
21:52
Speaker 3: Is a human factor that you know, as I've said
21:54
many times before, you can legislate diversity, you can legislate
21:58
a change of the uniform, but including people in the
22:02
organization requires other people to be ready to include you.
22:06
So the first few years in the r CNP, of course,
22:10
you know, came with a lot of challenges, a lot
22:14
of you know, folks that were not ready for that change.
22:17
Speaker 4: I mean, look it, don't get me wrong.
22:19
Speaker 3: I had a lot of allies, so I had a
22:20
lot of friends, a lot of people that stood by me.
22:23
But similarly, there were also people that were not ready
22:27
to accept this change, and so they took it out
22:31
of me because I was the only person there at
22:33
the time, and that included you know, uh, not willing
22:37
to back me up when I was out on patrol,
22:40
not including me in different work when you know, when
22:44
I was clarity a member of the organization, and that
22:47
a member of that unit, uh, excluding me front files
22:51
and investigations where you know, they thought that I wouldn't
22:55
be able to contribute all of this driven by a bias,
22:59
a prejudice, you know, and and oftentimes racism. Uh so,
23:05
and I share with folks that, you know, one of
23:07
my my first complaint, my first probably complaint, uh you know,
23:11
came on the day that I graduated, because someone at
23:16
least saw me graduating. And you know, on the day
23:21
that we graduated, it's a pretty big deal. Six months
23:24
of hard work and you get your badge and you graduate.
23:28
Uh and so on that day, you know, you're with
23:30
your family. Your troopmates become your family. So on the
23:34
day of graduation, it's very emotional, you know, and through
23:37
that we congratulate each other, we hug each other. So
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my first complaint was from a citizen out east who
23:44
thought that it was undecoming a police officer to hug
23:47
another police officer, and so they made the complaint and
23:51
a police officer, you know, an RCMPI officer, accepted the complaint,
23:56
which is I think the video travesty instead of saying
24:00
this is well, what are you talking about?
24:02
Speaker 4: This is not you know, this is not wrong.
24:05
Speaker 3: And then also accepting the complain against me but not
24:09
against all of my troop mates because the complaint suggested
24:12
that it was a it was a police officer with
24:14
the turbent that was you know, offending them and that
24:19
that was offensive.
24:20
Speaker 4: And so that complaint went from the you know, I
24:24
believe it.
24:25
Speaker 3: Was out in Ontario someplace, and then from Ontario went
24:28
you know, Ottawa, the headquarters. From Ottawa, I came to Vancouver.
24:32
From Vancouver, it came to Prince George. And so there
24:35
were that many people who looked at that complainant still
24:38
allowed it to go ahead, uh to the you know,
24:43
uh to the commanding officer or at that time, the
24:47
district officer in in Prince George Randie, who looked at it,
24:53
and he phoned me and he said, Voltage Constable Dylon,
24:57
I'm calling you because there's a complaint against you.
24:59
Speaker 4: But I also once you know, you're not going to
25:01
see it. I said, okay.
25:03
Speaker 5: Uh.
25:04
Speaker 3: He said, I am absolutely uh, you know, just floored
25:09
uh and disgusted by the fact that we actually accepted
25:13
this complaint. And I am going to send my remarks
25:17
back through the change so that everybody understands how how
25:20
I feel.
25:21
Speaker 4: Exactly that this was not just a travesty that.
25:24
Speaker 3: People continue to propagate and continue to you know, fuel
25:30
this frivolous and vexations complaint.
25:33
Speaker 4: So that was my first complaint.
25:35
Speaker 3: Michael, and I think that's that's the stage for many
25:38
other things that came along after that.
25:40
Speaker 1: Wow, I'm thinking myself, A hug is like, oh, but
25:46
you're a human being. First human beings hug and for
25:53
that matter, it's like there aren't there are other beings
25:55
on this planet that also hug. It's like, so what
26:01
is wrong? Well that I did want to ask you
26:04
this because to hear from a devout zek person what
26:11
the turbine and the beard actually mean to you as
26:17
as a religious symbol, as as as a person of faith.
26:22
And I think it's important that people actually here here
26:25
you you state what your faith means to you, because
26:30
there are a lot of listeners who are faith driven.
26:33
Speaker 4: So of course, look, this is uh, this is my
26:37
way of life.
26:38
Speaker 3: I've not I've not never cut my hair, you know,
26:42
since since coming into this world, since.
26:44
Speaker 4: I was born.
26:45
Speaker 3: Uh so my faith uh And so initially, you know,
26:50
my commitment to my way of life or my beard,
26:53
my turbine, my hair and sworn here was more because
26:57
of my commitment to my father. And my father was
27:00
a practicing Sikh. He was a devout sick and he
27:04
he passed on that identity and those principles and those
27:07
values to me. So I learned from him and I
27:12
he was my first robi, he was my mentor. I
27:14
absolutely held him in you know, such high regard. I uh,
27:19
you know, I respected all that he did, uh, you know.
27:23
And and so when and before his passing and before
27:28
we came to Canada, one of the last few things
27:31
that he had shared with me was that don't lose
27:33
your identity, stay true to who you are and so
27:37
and in growing up, I also got to learn about
27:40
my faith, and you know, became a very well versed
27:45
in our traditions and our culture and our history and
27:49
and so in the Sekh faith, our hair, you know those.
27:54
And again, this is not about judgment, This is not
27:57
about imposing, This is not.
27:59
Speaker 4: About anything but those who choose uh.
28:01
Speaker 3: To follow the Seek faith. And everyone is on their
28:05
own journey uh and follow the tenets of the Seek faith.
28:09
And one of the tenants is that you will keep
28:11
unshorn here Uh. So I have long hair. Both my
28:15
beer is tied up right now. It's not shaved or
28:17
anything like that, but it's just in a knot and
28:19
tied up underneath punch.
28:21
Speaker 4: And Uh, if you go on line and uh you know, and.
28:26
Speaker 3: You type in my name your wile, so on Google
28:28
you'll also see versions of me where where my beer
28:32
I'm nodded and longed into my down to my work
28:37
and so the and this is just to that professional
28:42
walk to be able to work in different spaces and
28:46
there's no restriction against that.
28:48
Speaker 4: The turban holds my hair, The turban protects my hair.
28:51
Speaker 3: And the turbun is considered within the seek faith our
28:54
crown and uh you know, uh a formal way and
28:59
appropriate way to manage our hair. But also the turbrene
29:03
was a gift from our teachers and especially our tenth Master,
29:08
Good Gobn Singh who you know, directed us to wear
29:12
turbrens to protect our hair.
29:14
Speaker 4: So the durven becomes an article of faith.
29:16
Speaker 3: Through that process and through that direction instructions from our teacher,
29:21
from our Guru, from our profit. And that is why
29:24
the turbine holds such important uh you know reference within
29:29
for seeks within to seek faith. It's also tied to
29:34
our you know, identity and who we are, uh and
29:38
in our commitment to the way of life and the
29:42
Sacre way of life. And it's also a signal to
29:45
others that we stand for certain values and principles, that
29:49
we are guided by UH certain disciplines, and that we
29:55
can be counted on to serve in that way. So
29:58
and there are many many organizations around the world that
30:01
are you know, supported by, sponsored by and run by
30:08
UH six and sick organizations that meet the principles and
30:13
the discipline I mean cast one that comes to mind,
30:17
you know, UH here in Vancouver there's a good non
30:20
free kitchen and all of these organizations such as Another
30:24
One Foundation, all these organizations, their purpose is to give back,
30:30
Their purpose is to serve in service is a very
30:34
important you know anchor for six selfless service especially, and
30:40
it underpins all the things that we engage in. Now Again,
30:45
as I shared before, and I want to make sure
30:46
that I preface this and a cabot this that you know,
30:49
everyone is on their own journey. So you may not
30:51
see somebody that wears deterurbined or has long beer and
30:55
long hair, but considers themselves are sick.
30:58
Speaker 4: They are. They are sick.
31:00
Speaker 3: They're on their own journey to move to whatever stage
31:04
they want to move to. And so when I've been
31:06
to ask before, love, why can't you do that why
31:08
can't you, you know, be that, Well, I'll be regressing
31:12
if I did that, I'll be going backwards. And so,
31:16
you know, we want to be moving forward. We want
31:18
to be learning, We want to be you know, getting
31:21
closer to the principles and the discipline and the values
31:25
of our faith and our way of life and and
31:29
but there's no time going on it anyone and everybody
31:32
can be on their own journey and that's up to do.
31:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree. I like what you you answered
31:43
the question about why you couldn't be the person who
31:46
cut your hair so busy early earlier on when you
31:49
said you were also honoring the traditions they were passed
31:52
down through your father, and that you were honoring your
31:56
father by by remembering who you are. I thought that
32:01
was very valuable.
32:03
Speaker 3: You know, absolutely, you know who I am and who
32:08
I am today is UH has a lot to do
32:11
with the principle's values, discipline, guidance, you know, trust that's
32:17
been that was placed in me by my father and
32:21
and I carry that forward. UH, and I hope to
32:23
give some of that to my children.
32:25
Speaker 1: Well from one from one I I know out of
32:29
the Zeke faith, it's a very peaceful service driven you know, humility, uh,
32:41
and being humble or part of that. It's not uh,
32:45
let's try to show I'm I'm greater than is no,
32:49
I am here equal to and willing to help. So
32:53
sort of sort of a faith which which is amazing.
32:57
You know we need more of that in our world, right.
33:01
Speaker 3: But you know, yeah, absolutely, Michael, I would say that,
33:04
you know, other than to see faith, All faiths, from
33:09
what I've seen and you know I have in my view,
33:14
are driven by from a place of doing good. H
33:18
you know, if we can, if you if we can
33:20
literally you know, bring it down to distill it to
33:24
you know, a very simple sort of sentence. It's about
33:26
doing good. And so in this sea, faith is no different.
33:32
I think the intention is to do good. Now, you know,
33:36
we as human beings can conoct even religion, even faith,
33:41
and by you know, allowing our own sort of biases,
33:46
our own prejudice, our own sort of thinking, in our
33:49
own uh you know, blind spots, and in our own
33:52
sort of thinking, get.
33:54
Speaker 4: In the way of.
33:56
Speaker 3: What the faith would have us do, what the health
34:00
would have us to, what the teachings would have us
34:02
to do. So I think it's uh it's about continually
34:06
reflecting back uh and resetting our own thinking against in
34:13
with the teachings of our life, our faith or and
34:18
these principles.
34:20
Speaker 4: And so that's what guides me.
34:22
Speaker 3: So if I am, you know, fearless in standing with
34:29
people being an ally, it's because I know that my
34:32
faith stands with me when I am standing with them.
34:35
So I don't have any worry. I don't know not
34:37
I'm not you know, in contradiction of anything. It is
34:41
who we are and what we are and what I
34:43
am and what my principles or values are. So it's
34:46
not in contradiction of anything. Rather it is alignment with
34:51
how we actually are supposed to be.
34:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, I say this, uh because I used to I
35:00
used to be on a rescue team and it was
35:03
steep terray, which meant I had to jump off of
35:05
cliffs in order to go save people because they fell
35:09
off that cliff or were trapped somehow. And it was
35:17
a trust that you had with your with your teammates. Right,
35:20
and you tell saying all those things that you did
35:24
about your faith being so important to you, your identity
35:27
being so important to you, and that you're not willing
35:30
to compromise those things. That tells me that if you're
35:34
standing on the other end of that ballet line and
35:36
I'm jumping off that cliff to go save somebody, You're
35:40
gonna hold tight.
35:41
Speaker 4: Yeah.
35:42
Speaker 1: And I can't see how anyone could see that differently,
35:48
you know.
35:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, I'm with you. I I that's a great example.
35:54
That's a that's a great way to put it. You know,
35:57
I think folks were principles, were values, folks that you know,
36:01
in my view most of the time that you can
36:04
depend on because they will what will guide them or
36:07
their values and principle and they will not be swayed
36:10
by the moment or at the time or where the
36:12
winds that are you know, popular during that during.
36:16
Speaker 4: That period or whatever the pressure is.
36:19
Speaker 3: So uh in those instances, I think, you know, and
36:23
I've shared this with the young people and I go
36:26
and speak with kids and students and schools, is that
36:29
you know, your values are your anchors, and the storms
36:33
of life will come, uh, and if your anchors are
36:36
not in place during that storm, then you are going
36:40
to be uh, you know, beaten to the rocks.
36:42
Speaker 4: Uh.
36:43
Speaker 3: And you know you'll be in shambles trying to figure
36:46
out which way to go. So have those in place,
36:49
align with them, be clear, draw your you know, uh,
36:53
be very confident about those values. And then when the
36:56
storms come, you're ready. You're not going to be swayed,
36:59
You're not going to be taken advantage of. You will
37:01
be able to move through that strength and courage and
37:05
be ready for the next one.
37:07
Speaker 1: So those anchors in and of course your courage, they've
37:11
been the secret sauce to your success.
37:17
Speaker 3: Well, yes, I would say one thousand percent. Uh, you know,
37:20
and I and I and I guess I would put
37:22
it this way, And this is the other thing and
37:24
share with students is that.
37:26
Speaker 4: First understand what your passions are.
37:28
Speaker 3: What is it that you're living for, What exactly is
37:31
it that you are looking to do? What you're what
37:33
are you looking to accomplish. When I first came into
37:35
the RCMP, you know, it was out of service. When
37:38
I when I started to make a decision in my
37:42
life of what career to pursue. Initially I wanted to
37:45
become a lawyer.
37:46
Speaker 4: Uh.
37:47
Speaker 3: And then they started volunteering. The RCMP saw what the
37:49
community needed. There was a lack of representation.
37:53
Speaker 1: Uh.
37:54
Speaker 3: There was a lot of folks within the community that
37:56
couldn't speak the language. I was providing the service. I
37:59
was buying support to them. There was a need and
38:02
so that became the objective. That became the desire to
38:07
serve a community that was being underrepresented or underserved. And
38:11
that's why I joined, not the RCMP, but I looked
38:14
to join a police force because my intention was to
38:16
become a police officer, not an RCNB officer. And I
38:20
applied to every police department in the Wormingland, and so
38:24
it just happened that there was this thing depriven thing
38:28
that happened, and there was this huge controversy that took place,
38:32
and the RCMP was the first, after all of that
38:35
was sorted to hire me. Once I came into the RCMP,
38:38
it you know, completed that work. I fulfilled that role
38:41
and I was able to serve. I was able to
38:44
be there and you know and support the community and
38:49
with my languages and my cultural background traditions, and they
38:52
saw themselves being represented in an organization that oftentimes it
38:58
was difficult to trust because there was no connection, there
39:01
was no relationship, there was no you couldn't see yourself
39:04
in that in that organization, and that's you know that
39:07
that's a large part of creating trust and creating confidence
39:12
in that organization. So that knew, UH that the organization
39:15
can be supported by the community as well. And so
39:19
that went on and soon after, you know, many years
39:22
after working within the rcn V, I then started to
39:26
see the issue around youth UH and UH and youth
39:29
criminality and gangs and organized crime and how you know,
39:33
South Asian young men were overrepresented within gangs and also
39:39
especially in the in the killings, and we've lost hundreds
39:44
of young men because of gang vitonce and and and
39:49
organized crime. So I started to turn my mind towards that,
39:53
and that became my passion. That became the thing that
39:56
I wanted to try to support, help and possibly resolve
40:01
and you know, find solutions towards.
40:04
Speaker 4: So I started doing that work. And with that work,
40:08
you know, I was able to create a variety of.
40:11
Speaker 3: Initiatives consent in place, and through that, you know, I
40:17
then went into the Organized crime Agency. So the success
40:21
you speak of, Michael is not what I chased. What
40:24
I chased was the service. The chase was around the passion.
40:29
The chase was around how can I support this, How
40:32
can I try to fix this? How can I lend
40:35
my voice to this, How can I contribute to it
40:39
so that it's it's less of an issue it there's
40:42
opportunities here, ways to resolve it.
40:45
Speaker 4: The success fodels, the success follows.
40:48
Speaker 3: And when you start to do that, then the places
40:53
where you can have your voice heard are places where
40:56
you then choose.
40:58
Speaker 4: To move towards. So I did not within the RCNP.
41:02
Speaker 3: I sought out spaces and also promotions that would help
41:07
me contribute towards the work that I had a passion around.
41:12
It wasn't just because I wanted to get promoted, but
41:14
I wanted to.
41:15
Speaker 4: Advance some of the work and from there.
41:18
Speaker 3: That is why exactly why I lend my name to
41:23
the provincial campaign and election last year, was.
41:26
Speaker 4: Because I wanted to join.
41:30
Speaker 3: I had done as much as I could in the RCNP,
41:32
in the Organized Crime Agency, and I felt that the
41:34
only other way that I could advance some of the
41:36
work that I wanted to do was to you know,
41:39
being in public service as a politician and as ann LA.
41:43
Speaker 4: That didn't turn out the way we wanted it to,
41:46
but that's okay. That's the part of the journey.
41:49
Speaker 3: And here I am now with this role as a
41:52
Senate as a senator in the Senate, and I'm still
41:56
pursuing that work, and I'm still working on advancing in
41:59
his and strategies and looking to meet with people and
42:02
talk about how we can bring about different approaches to
42:07
address the issue of organized crime and gangs in our
42:10
in our nation.
42:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, organized crime and gangs is is a problem with
42:20
that I'm not unfamiliar with. I remember and many other
42:27
communities I've lived in with Native people trying to tell
42:31
them it's like, look, this isn't a way. That not
42:34
the way to do this. You don't have to keep
42:38
going through this revolving door in and out of jail
42:42
being able to say, oh I can do that kind
42:45
of time standing on my head. It's not a positive statement.
42:51
Find a way to Did you compassionately serve our community
42:56
and help others grow within that positivity? That's the way
43:00
to serve you know, Yes.
43:03
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, And I think that's for anybody. And that's
43:08
what I say to young people is that don't you know,
43:11
don't chase the promotion, don't chase the position, chase the
43:19
work that drives you.
43:20
Speaker 4: What is it, What is it that you're looking to
43:22
bring change?
43:23
Speaker 3: Around what is it that you're looking to solve, what
43:25
is it that you're looking to contribute towards. And once
43:28
you're clear about that, then what position you need to
43:32
be in to do that work becomes clear and then
43:35
you're no longer having to be something that you're not to.
43:39
Speaker 4: Try to be in that role, but rather you're now.
43:41
Speaker 3: Speaking from a place of passion and a place of commitment,
43:46
and those positions you know, become available to you.
43:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's you. You are doing amazing work right now.
43:56
What's in the future for you?
44:00
Speaker 3: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm very in my
44:03
role as as a senator, and I certainly hope that
44:06
you know, I will I'm able to advance some of
44:10
the some of the initiatives and some of the things
44:12
that I've been talking about for many, many years now
44:15
when it comes to organize crime and Geese as well,
44:17
and has continued to be an advocate for you know,
44:20
equity and diversity and create greater spaces that are inclusive
44:25
of all of us and also address systemic challenges systemic racism,
44:30
systemic discrimination in workplaces and informal spaces. So I certainly
44:34
want to continue to learn my voice to all of that.
44:37
What the future holds, well, we'll see. I certainly, you know,
44:42
I think I'm here for some time now, you know,
44:45
as a senator, we we're here for until the age
44:50
of seventy five, if you want to work that long.
44:53
So for now, I think my focus is to learn
44:57
everything that goes on the Senate and all of the rules,
45:02
all of the you know, the all of the workings
45:05
of the Senate, and then also leverage uh, this current position,
45:10
my office and this new role to advance some of
45:14
the some of the strategies that have been talking about,
45:18
some of the things that I would like to see,
45:20
uh come to fruition when it when it uh, you know,
45:25
and and address the challenges of organized crime in gainings.
45:28
Because as far as you operate, operrate, you know, crisis
45:32
is concerned the toxic drug supply, well it's it's a
45:35
it's directly linked to organized crime. Toxic drug supply doesn't
45:38
just show up, you know, magically. It's being brought here
45:42
or you know, being produced here by organized crime. So
45:48
if we don't deal with the wholesalers, if we don't
45:53
deal with the producers, we don't deal with the source
45:56
of the problem. We'll only treating the symptoms. We're only
46:00
treating the after effect, and so not that that's not important,
46:05
it is we continue, We need to continue to you know,
46:10
show up our clerks, our voters wherever we can to
46:15
both interfere and interrupt and reduce that toxic drug supply
46:20
and getting and prevent that toxic drug supply and getting
46:24
into our communities. At the same breath, we can also
46:28
do more, in my view, to combat directly those that
46:33
are responsible for this prison in our communities.
46:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. It is truly truly poisoned in in
46:45
more than one way. It's tragic to have have such
46:51
things be in our in our society. Medications do great
46:56
things for people, but when they're misused as drugs, it's
47:00
a definite problem. So yeah, thank you for coming on
47:06
the show. It's been a real pleasure having you and
47:11
to finding such a like minded individual like you that
47:15
believes that service and community uh should be some of
47:20
our top priorities.
47:21
Speaker 4: You know, thank you, Thank you for having me on.
47:25
Speaker 3: Michael appreciate it real longer for me as well to
47:28
be able to share my thoughts here, and thank you
47:30
for making space and allowing my voice to be heard.
47:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, So usually I ask people the best ways to
47:39
get a hold of you is if you live in
47:44
British Columbia and you need to get get a hold
47:47
of our senator, go directly to his website. I will
47:54
put put the website in the in the liner notes
47:57
for the episode. And if it's a real issue, I'm
48:01
sure that you'll hear about it. You'll hear back, because
48:08
that's the type person you are, right.
48:12
Speaker 4: So, yeah, absolutely lots of folks have reached out.
48:16
Speaker 3: There are some things that you know, we a senator
48:19
can provide assistance in and support and look at advancing
48:24
issues and try to find resolve for them.
48:28
Speaker 4: But there are other things that are.
48:29
Speaker 3: Certainly outside of our outside of our preview and not
48:32
something that we can and and I almost absolutely share
48:36
all of that. I mean, there's there's some things that
48:38
just are outside of our circle influence, ProView and our.
48:43
Speaker 4: And our power.
48:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right again, thank you and thank you everybody
48:48
for listening, and we'll see you next time.
49:01
Speaker 5: Then stop back shoes.
49:05
Speaker 2: So I don't know.
49:19
Speaker 5: So I who from action?
49:23
Speaker 1: So ny.
49:31
Speaker 2: This he says a reason to.
49:43
Speaker 1: Save me.
49:46
Speaker 5: Choose we can't tr curbit.
50:00
Speaker 4: Oh past.
50:24
Speaker 5: You can yes see. She goes to the strip stop stuff,
50:48
but now changes.
51:17
Speaker 1: The show has been produced by Depictions Media. Please contact
51:22
us at depictions dot media for more information.