The annual Brampton Citizen Awards ceremony was held at the Rose Theatre in Brampton, where outstanding citizens from various sectors received awards for their achievements in different areas.
The ceremony was held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on May 11, 2023.
The Citizen of the Year Awards were presented to youth, adults, and senior citizens who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and community involvement.
The event was attended by prominent individuals from the community, including Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who presented the awards to the winners.
Ameerah, a musician and artist who also won the Musician Award of the Arts Acclaimed Award, expressed her pleasure at having the chance to perform at the Brampton Citizen Awards.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” she said. “I was actually asked to perform one of my own tracks today at the awards ceremony. So that was incredible for me, and I really enjoyed that opportunity.”
Ameerah also said she has some songs coming out in the future.
“I have some songs releasing this summer, which I’m super excited for. I have a song releasing on May 25. It’s called sickness. It’s a little bit more of a dance pop EDM kind of vibe, so I’m super looking forward to that,” she said.
She said she is feeling thankful for getting the award.
“I feel really grateful for getting this award. It makes me feel proud to be a Bramptonian, honestly, because I’m recognized for such hard work that I’ve put in, and it really encourages artists and other creatives in this city to bring their art forward and really share it with the community,” Ameerah said.
She said the song she performed in the ceremony was unreleased and was about relationships.
“Today I performed a song called Distance. It’s an unreleased song. I will be releasing it this summer. This song is special song. It’s about being in a relationship with anybody. It can be a lover, a friend, or your parents,” Ameerah said.
“And feeling really distant from them and not being able to feel close to them because of certain hurdles that you may have been through, but always knowing that there’s going to be a way for you to find yourself back with that person and rebuild that relationship,” she said.
Ameerah said she was feeling her personal experience while performing the song.
“And when I sing it, it comes really personal for me because it’s based on experience. So that’s what the song means to me,” she said.
Ameerah also said her goal is to win a Juno Award.
“So, I’d love to win a Juno Award. I think that would be like solidifying my career, and I’d love to perform at the Junos as well. And I’d also love to perform for the Brampton Canada Day festival,” she said.
Jessi Sandhu, a community services worker and winner of the Citizen of the Year, adult category award, said that he is thankful for the Brampton community for nominating him for this award.
“I want to thank everybody who nominated me — Brampton, you know, the entire population that nominated me for this award,” he said.
Sandhu said he got the award because of his charitable work for sick children.
“And the second thing is, the reason I got this award, I think, is that we raised over half a million dollars for Sick Kids Hospital in the last two years, and we’ll continue to do that in the coming time as well,” he said.
Following the awards presentation, there was a photo session with Mayor Patrick Brown and light refreshments, which offered a wonderful chance for participants to network and honour the accomplishments of the award recipients.
Brown congratulated all the recipients of awards at the ceremony and appreciated their contributions to the betterment of the community.
“Congratulations. And thank you for being a role model in our community,” he said.
Brown was persistent in his dedication to enhancing Brampton’s arts community.
“We continue to try to move the artistic board and make Brampton a better and better city every year,” he said.