Sikhs and Seeking Truth about Canada Post Stamp Issues - Remembrance Day

On November 2, Canada Post unveiled its 2025 Remembrance Day stamp recognizing the long history of Sikh soldiers serving with the Canadian military. More than a quarter million Sikh soldiers answered the call of duty for Britain and its allies during both world wars. In Canada, discrimination prevented many Sikhs from enlisting. Only 10 broke the barrier in the First World War – most fighting with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Europe – including eight who joined before conscription.

At 22 years old, Private Buckam Singh was the youngest Canadian Sikh soldier to enlist. He was wounded and returned to action after recovering in hospital – only to be injured again. He was later diagnosed with tuberculosis and died from the disease in 1919. The Private Singh stamp features an illustration of a [modern-day] Canadian Sikh soldier paying his respects in remembrance of those who have served. The background is an illustration of Private Buckam Singh's grave at Mount Hope Cemetery in Kitchener, the stamp's cancel location. 

A collector named Peter Bishop posted a lengthy rant on social media stamp group, upon which I will interleave some comments:

I cannot express how utterly disappointed I am at the new Remembrance Day stamp issue.  Honouring soldiers of a specific religion?  While I understand the atmosphere of inclusion that is prevalent in today's society, I think we do an injustice to all those who served who don't happen to be Sikh with something like this.  Not to mention the man honoured on the stamp survived the war, albeit his death was likely due to the fact he did serve as he contracted tuberculosis and passed a year after the war ended.  

Disagree - This is splitting hairs. The fact that one person featured had particular characteristics - chosen or natural - does not detract from all others who served. Does the fact that he didn't die in action mean that his service was in vain?

 I don't understand why anyone feels the need to bring attention to a specific group although Canada Post's site quotes it is to bring "to light the forgotten stories of these and other Sikh soldiers in Canada."  Forgotten stories?  I've always assumed men and women of all races and religions fought side by side for Canada.  Indigenous Canadians, white Canadians, black Canadians, Asian Canadians, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Sikh, heck, even German Canadians.  

Disagree - I think it's fair to say that those with means were able to preserve their service and stories better. A good example is indigenous veterans who returned to isolated areas and did not publicize their service or even receive benefits to which they are entitled. I think those stories should be told.

Shouldn't everyone who served and ESPECIALLY everyone who gave the ultimate sacrifice, be honoured as one?  

Disagree - you're arguing against your own case here. Should Canada Post put every veteran all on the same stamp? What is 'as one' if not 'just one'?

It's like the annual Diwali and Eid stamps...why?  Because we have Christmas stamps?  We have Christmas stamps because the rates for Christmas cards was different due to the increased volume at that time of year so the Post Office issued a stamp with the different denominations.  We no longer have that unfortunately, so maybe it's time to take religion OUT of the stamp business?  Btw, Canada is about 2% Sikh, 2% Hindu  and 5% Muslim while it is over 53% Christian (and I belong to none of them)  Feel free to try and change my mind...

No thanks, because I don't think I can, Mr Bishop. We just cannot compare our current Canada with the Canada-of-yore that you seem to idealize and idolize. Sure, Canada issued the first 'XMAS' stamp back in 1898 with the map of the British Empire in red. Throughout the 1960s, we saw praying hands, a family holding hands, children carolling, children's paintings, Natal stars and gifts of the Magi depicted on Christmas stamps. The issuing of these stamps carried on long after rate differences for Christmas mail existed.

Agree - I see the CBC, various ad campaigns, Canada Post and municipal governments feature visible minorities far outside their demographic distribution. This is likely an effort to reflect Canadian society but to the majority, this sometimes seems like tokenism and dare I say reverse racism at times. However, it is a practice neither one of us is going to change, Mr Bishop. Canada Post has already taken religion OUT of the stamp business, as it pertains to Christianity. You note Diwali and Eid, not to mention Hanukkah. Do these stamps sell? I don't know. But as Canadians, we are constitutionally required to respect the rights, and indeed fight to defend the rights, of all Canadians. 

Even when it comes to Remembrance Day stamps!

Fifty-Four Bucks o' Fun! Eastern Ontario Stamp Festival

Crossroads United Church on Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard was once again the site of the Kingston Stamp Club fall stamp festival. As usual, I adopted a focused, budget-limited, bottom-feeder mindset on the way to the show. I also decided against large boxes or ziplock bags of on-paper stamps (though I did find a couple - but the better angels won out and I was happy to see someone pick one of the latter up from the consignment table for three bucks)! I already have a tea box of US/international and a second one of Canada ready for some colder-months soaking. I watched another collecting tonging through a plastic tub of stamps - the cost of each was 10 cents - and though it looked like fun, I know that circuits and exchanges I participate in garner stamps for my collection at the two-to-four-cents-each price point. Colour me cost-conscious. Nah, go ahead, just call me cheap. It's true!

Views of what I came home with (above and below), mostly from the club consignment table. Always good bargains and great variety and constantly replenished by Val, "I just put those out". Yes, and now they're going home with me! Thank you! 

Two boxes and three bags of Commonwealth/world. They will all comprise a fun sort! Decision point - hold up the Long & Noble Crusade 3.0 for these late-arrivals or keep the gate to Departure closed? A page of Mint Hinged early Canada that looks like a nice upgrade for my Canada album.

Also, one set of mounts from Roy and two from another dealer. The last six dollars of my budget was applied to an 'ice cap' and coffee from Timmies for my return home! I heard one dealer say that nothing is increasing in value anymore, and another making comment on the market [I can't get rid of this stuff] that confirmed to me that one should be a collector for the joy collecting brings, not the value a collection will command [or not!] someday.

Thanks to the club for hosting another well-attended show!

That little children's Size 7 shoebox at bottom right simply called 'All Countries box 1' that I bought for the princely sum of $3 was packed full of goodies, up to the early-60s. Someone had taken time to sort by countries and in some cases (US, Canada, Newfoundland) there were deep pockets of duplicates. Generally in good condition albeit some heavily-cancelled. Here are some samples of the contents:

Newfoundland in depth

Newfoundland mostly singles

Early Canada with some interesting postmarks shown

Worldwide

Early US with pre-cancels!

Lots of US Postage Dues!

Long & Noble Crusade 3.0

Now that I've had a chance to finish sorting MaxSold box contents, two tins from the previous Kingston stamp show (another coming up next weekend!), trades from exchange partners and stamps selected from circuits, I've grouped them by continent or colonies and it will soon be Long & Noble (that's starting to sound like the name of a law firm!) Crusade 3.0 over the coming colder months.

The cornucopic crusade contents continuation can comprise: 

• checking each zip-loc bag for duplicates and sending the duplicates for disposition,
• sorting each zip-loc into country-glassines,
• checking those sorted-by-country stamps against what's already in my collection, 
• and finally albumizing them.

It's impossible to albumize without sorting, and what's the point of sorting if there's no albumizing?

The United Stamps of America!

My very basic Freedom U.S. album by H.E. Harris (at left in these photos) covered all of the 19th century in one page. Compact yes, but I had accumulated an abundance of early U.S. with no little black & white album-page illustrations in which to put them.

As a result of my recent MaxSold win I ended up with an 1960s Minkus All-American and an H.E. Harris Liberty U.S. album (at right in these photos). Both had very good descriptions and excellent coverage of the early U.S. issues, but I couldn't keep all three U.S. albums. With the Liberty being superior, I wondered if I could combine its early U.S. pages with my Freedom pages. (A long time ago, I had removed and three-hole punched the pages from the Liberty and added them to my own album pages for superseding U.S. issues.)

Yes, I could. I drew a line in the American sand, in the early 1930s, and transferred my early U.S. issues to the Liberty pages. There is one page of overlap and I used that to double up my coverage of the Washington centennial other period stamps. I used a USPS Guide to U.S. Stamps and Google to try to get the right stamp on the right illustration.

A Seventh Fellow Traveler on the Journey...

...joins my collection of Travelers. This is Number Seven. Part of a MaxSold auction lot (vendor photo at top). It's a 1971 edition, excellent shape, not too swaybacked, pages not yellowed, maybe 100 stamps stuck in. Also in the lot were the Canada Post millennium souvenir, intact, and two baggies of WW on- and off-paper. My winning bid was $16.

This is my second spare Traveler. I've acquired four over the last three years, each for less than $10. As I start the latest, annual round (3.0) of my Long & Noble Crusade to albumize acquired stamps, I'm in good shape and ready to expand as needed to Travelers 6 and 7.

The Deerly Departed

While going through my MaxSold finds, I came across this 1963 Costa Rican white-tailed deer stamp with a notable cancel ' 19 FEB...' - my Dad's birthday. As the person who 'worked stamps' with me and my siblings many years ago, this was a full circle moment.

MaxBoxes!

A MaxSold auction this week included two views of stamp collecting items on a dining room table. Both the table and the stamp collecting items were up for bids. Though the bidding went higher than my initial maximum (doesn't it always?) I was eventually the successful high bidder - the albums and Canada Post books in the top photo for $30, the miscellaneous hoard below for $42, both before taxes and fees. What I was really interested in was the Canada Post Collector Packs. There were more pictures posted on the MaxSold website that led me to believe these were intact, unopened and therefore usable as postage!

As Canada Post continues hiking postage rates, stamp collectors like me who rely on exchanges, circuits and mailing stamps all over the world face increased costs to participate in this hobby: $1.24 within Canada, $1.75 to the U.S. $3.65 International. But what if I could buy mint postage at a reduced rate and use it at face value? When bidding, I hoped to #$%^ that the packs were full, since their contents were not visible. Well, examining the packs upon pick-up (in two boxes and feeling like 30 pounds' total weight !) showed me that they were indeed full!

I formulated a total of mint postage obtained in these two lots, and it was three times the bid price! This mint postage will fund well over 150 mailings to other collectors.

The albums are lightly used, nothing valuable observed so far, and I may consider switching my current paperback US (lacking some spots for early issues) and paperback Canada (lacking some spots and information on some issues) to these H.E. Harris dust-covered binder albums. The miscellaneous envelopes will be a fun sort over the long winter months. Two full packets of usable stamp hinges will save me $15 all on their own!

These appear to have belonged to someone who started collecting earlier in life, then returned to the hobby perhaps upon retirement. I will give these items a good home in my retirement, and share them with others if I can't! This collection will live on. I'd like to thank Joan for curating this collection all these years!