There is a new Kaur in Canada, but she wasn’t born with the tag, nor did she acquire it through marriage. Instead, as a gesture of thanks to the local Sikh community for its support, Canada’s former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps has embraced this distinctive middle name.At a time when the Jalandhar connection to the Madrid train bombings is making the headlines, Sheila Kaur Copps proudly flaunts her ties with the Indian community. ‘‘When I was in trouble, it was the Sikhs who came to help me,’’ says Copps, who was defeated by current Prime Minister Paul Mart in the leadership battle. Sikh Canadians raised funds for Copps and enrolled in bulk to back her ultimately futile campaign. The love affair began during Copps’s previous tenure as a heritage minister when she got a Sikh temple in Abbotsford declared a national heritage site in 2002. And when Vancouver city won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, Copps began her congratulatory speech with the Sikh greeting Sat Sri Akal.Copps, who won the support of most of the moderate Sikhs in Canada during her campaign, now plans to visit Amritsar.
