On April 19, the City of Vancouver hosted a Vaisakhi parade in celebration of the birth of the Sikh identity.

Georgia Straight staffer Navdeep Chhina was there, and happened to find B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell also in attendance.

Campbell, caught by another media outlet’s reporter, took a couple of questions on religion and politics.

“I think that the point of coming to Vaisakhi is to celebrate the community. It is part of a great celebration that says rebirth,” Campbell told a number of reporters. “That I don’t think is political and I don’t think this is political. This is for people from all walks of life.”

Metro Vancouver’s Vaisakhi celebrations came under fire in 2007, when photographs of controversial figures appeared on display at Surrey’s parade. Those photos included alleged Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar and other members of groups classified as terrorist organizations by the Canadian government.

Asked about last year’s parade, Campbell responded, “I think that politics doesn’t have any place in people’s faith. I think that faith is an important part of everyone’s life and different people have different faiths and pursue it in different ways.”

Earlier in the month, before Surrey’s Vaisakhi Parade, Campbell claimed that he would not be attending that event because of a scheduling conflict which would have him in Vancouver Island at the time.

At the Vancouver parade, Campbell said, “I wasn’t told about last week until too late for me to make it.”

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan also attended the Vancouver parade (pictured below).

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan at the City's 2008 Viasakhi Parade. Navdeep Chhina photo.

Campbell and Sullivan did not attend Surrey’s Vaisakhi parade on April 12. Canadian politicians who did attend the event included New Democrat MP Penny Priddy, Surrey Mayor Diane Watts, and Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal. Priddy and Watts made notable efforts to separate themselves from controversial photos which were again on display, while Dhaliwal declined to criticize the pictures, CBC reported.