By Balwant Sanghera
VANCOUVER: The passing of the first-ever Indo-Canadian tycoon Asa Johal, who was also one of the oldest Indians in Canada, last week marks the end of an era in the history of the Indo-Canadian community.
The famous sawmill tycoon died in Vancouver at the age of 98. He would have turned 99 in August.
Born in 1922 at Jandiala village near Jalandhar in Punjab, Mr Johal came to Canada with his parents when he was just 18 months old.
His father Pratap Singh Johal came to Canada in 1906. In 1918, his dad went back to India to marry Asa’s mother. In 1924, the family returned to Canada.
In an interview at residence in Shaughnessy in South Vancouver, Mr Johal had narrated his family’s journey to Canada.
“There were hardly any Indians in Canada at that time. We were only one of the three or four families to own a car. We were doing very well, but the Depression struck and blew away everything we owned. I was in school at that time,” he had said in the interview.
He had to leave school after sixth standard to support his family.
“I only studied up to grade six. I was 14 years old at that time when I started work at lumber mills. Though the wage was 25 cents an hour, they would give me only 15 cents,” he narrated.
“Within three years, I saved enough to buy a start fuel supply business. People used to burn fuel in keep houses warm in those days. I used to go from door to sell fuel. My company Queensboro earned me a thousand dollars a month from the beginning. Then I bought a pick-up truck to ferry fuel and hired people.”
In 1948, Mr Johal went back to India for the first time to marry his wife Kashmir Kaur. They returned to Canada in 1950 to restart his fuel supply business. “But it failed. I thought of sawmills as an option. I had $50,000 with me at that time and I invested all in this new venture and named it Terminal Sawmills.”
Terminal Sawmills grew rapidly. With his profits, he kept adding new sawmills, lumber plants and log sorting facilities.
Eventually, he became as one of the most prominent lumber tycoons in British Columbia. His companies provided employment to thousands of workers.
Not only that, Mr. Johal and his family donated millions of dollars to a lot of worthwhile causes. These include Children’s Hospital, Vancouver General Hospital, U.B.C., Richmond Hospital, BC Cancer Society and many others.
He was kind enough to build an impressive auditorium at Government Girls Secondary School in his native village Jandiala in Jalandhar district.
His family also made a big contribution to building and supporting India Cultural Centre of Canada Gurdwara Nanak Niwas on No 5 Road in Richmond, British Columbia.
In view of the community’s growing needs, we at Gurdwara Nanak Niwas needed a bigger kitchen for our Langar Hall. Mr Johal said `no problem, and donated a million dollars to take care of this huge project.
Just on April 11 this year, we honoured Mr. Johal and his wife with plaques for their support and dedication to the community.
His was a rags-to-riches story. This first Indo-Canadian tycoon also became the first person of Indian origin to get the Order of Canada (in 1992) and the provincial honour of the Order of British Columbia (in 1991.
A disciplined and punctual person, Mr Johal treated everyone with great respect. And he never forgot his roots.
His passing marks the end of an era for the Indo-Canadian community.
READ NEXT: Oldest Indo-Canadian business pioneer Asa Johal just six short of century
