Joginder Bains Park

Jogindar Bains Park is a small, triangular grassy open space located on the edge of Cowichan Lake in the small Vancouver Island logging community of Lake Cowichan, B.C. A commemorative plaque recognizing Jogindar Singh Bains is located near the park entry.

Jogindar Bains Park has historic, social and cultural value primarily as a memorial to South Asian pioneer and province-builder Jogindar Singh Bains and the sawmill operation he developed at this site.

Jogindar Bains Park is significant for its association with Sikh pioneer Jogindar Singh Bains, a lumber and sawmilling entrepreneur, developer and humanitarian whose work helps represent the South Asian Canadian community's economic and social contributions to the province.

The park is valued as being representative of the South Asian pioneer experience and their accomplishments in B.C. Arriving in the province in 1932 as a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor, Jogindar Bains found work at the Kapoor sawmill operation at Leechtown near Sooke. After first opening a sawmill at nearby Bear Mountain, Jogindar Bains developed the mill at the present site on Lake Cowichan in 1956.

Jogindar Bains' small-scale, 25-employee Lake Cowichan mill was considered a model modern operation, pioneering the use of electricity and employing primarily First Nations and South Asian Canadian workers. His enterprise eventually included building supply and hardware businesses, trucking and bulldozing operations, and the development and construction of residential housing.

The park, along with its memorial plaque, is important for its recognition of a citizen who believed in Canadian values while cherishing his own spiritual and cultural legacy as a Sikh and South Asian. With a long record of contributions to the South Asian community in B.C., Jogindar Bains built his values on the Sikh tradition of Seva or selfless service. This included assisting new immigrants, funding efforts for South Asian Canadian voting rights and citizenship, espousing multi-culturalism and respecting the rights of First Nations.

While the mill is no longer in existence, the Lake Cowichan community continues to value the legacy of the lumber company started by entrepreneur Jogindar Singh Bains, particularly the company's community goals. These included a commitment to cultural diversity and multiculturalism, work on repatriation with local First Nations, initiatives focusing on immigration issues, and other community endeavours of importance to the South Asian community.

The renaming and dedication of the park in 2009 is an example of the community's continuing regard for Jogindar Bains and his association with the historic place.