25 years and growing, the success of the Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association of Canada is laced with the pioneering efforts of its founders who built a solid foundation. Its history however could be divided into two distinct segments: the period from 1984-1992 and from 1993 onwards. In 1984, it started as an ad-hoc committee under the banner of Josephian-Peterite Old Boys’ Association of Canada. This was transformed in 1993 into a structured fully fledged member driven organization complete with a set of by-laws and constitution. 1993 also marked the first year the OBA organized a family picnic at the Ajax Conservation Area Park. The birth of the Masters’ Game (Cricket) also made its debut in 1993. In 1995, there was a name change to Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association of Canada. On record, the Josephian-Peterite Old Boys’ Association formed in 1984 was singularly the first Sri Lankan school alumni to be formed in Canada – a unique honour that the association proudly carries even to this date. The JPAA-OBA became a model on which other schools’ built their alumni associations in Toronto.

In the early 80s, roughly 4,000 Sri Lankans had made Canada their home. The majority settled down in Toronto while others moved to Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax. Toronto may have had about 75-100 Sri Lankans who attended the two leading Catholic institutions in Colombo – St. Joseph’s College and St. Peter’s College. With this backdrop, the idea of forming the first Sri Lankan School’s Alumni in Canada was the brainchild of Upali Obeyesekere, an old Peterite who had immigrated to Canada in 1974. Since the number of old boys from both schools was meager, Upali went with the concept of forming a joint association. Along with a close friend Benito de Silva (Old Josephian) – the two handpicked a team of old boys who heralded the Ad-Hoc Committee in 1984. The members of the original committee were Upali Obeyesekere (SPC-Coordinator), Anton Perera (SPC-Treasurer), Sunimal Perera (SJC), Nihal Perera (SPC), Jimmy Raymond (SJC), Hamzee Hameed (SJC), and Roy Alles (SJC). In subsequent years a few old boys were co-opted to strengthen the committee - Lyall Bakelmun (SPC), Lucky Ranchigoda (SPC), Rohan Vanigasooriyar (SJC) and Raymon Lord (SJC). It was a very cohesive group with a clear mandate and a firm commitment to excellence. The aim of the ad-hoc committee was to target the participation of all old boys from the two schools’ domiciled in Canada. The mission objective was to provide a forum for the old boys and their families to meet and greet each other, to foster goodwill and camaraderie among the Joe-Pete fraternity and to help the Alma Mater. To this end, the objective has been met fairly and squarely in the last twenty-five years and the association has gone from strength to strength.

Battle of the Saints (Canadian Version) – The inaugural cricket encounter was scheduled for late summer of 1984. However, the weather god’s were not in favour and it rained heavily the whole day and the match was abandoned without a ball been bowled or the players even going to the grounds. Though disappointed, the ad-hoc committee came back strong in 1985. Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Stanley Abeysekera, Rector of St. Joseph’s College was visiting New York and Upali convinced Rev. Fr. Stanley to visit Toronto and be chief guest at the cricket match. Two teams were put together with great difficulty and the first game was played in brilliant Toronto sunshine on August 17th at the picturesque Marigail Cricket Grounds in Orangeville – a spectacular venue about 60 northwest of Toronto. Rev. Fr. Stanley’s presence boosted the morale of the old boys and enhanced the value of having an organization such as ours in distant Canada. From then onwards the Joe-Pete Cricket encounter was the most marketable sporting event in the Sri Lankan community calendar until other school alumni groups evolved in the 90s.

The honour of leading the two schools for the inaugural game fell on Upali Obeyesekere (SPC) and Benito de Silva (SJC). Others who played in this historic game were Neville de Silva, Ranjith Wijeyesekere, Errol de Silva, Andrew Goonetilleka (visiting from Sri Lanka), Nihal Jayawardene, brothers Lucky & Maurice Ranchigoda, Basil Gurusingha, Ronnie Willenburg and Peter Karunaratne for the Peterites. The Josephians fielded a younger side and included Ray Lord, Ian Joseph, Chris Cooke, Shirley Rangala, Rohan Vanigasooriyar, Melvin Machado, Sunimal Perera, Derrick de Silva, Noel Bartholomeusz, brothers Joe & Anslem Lawrence and Ken Serpanchy. The Josephians won easily and continued their winning streak in the next few years until the Peterites were strengthened with the arrival of a few ‘young uns’ who made Canada their home in the late 90s. Camaraderie at the games was terrific and the highest standard of sportsmanship was always evident on the playing field.

Annual Joe-Pete Dinner Dance – The inaugural Joe-Pete Dinner Dance was held in 1988 on May 27 at The Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre in Don Mills with music provided by DJ-Music Masters. The event was a huge success and attended by about 350 old boys, their families and well-wishers. Putting this into context of the 80s, it was considered the biggest crowd that had ever attended a Sri Lankan dinner dance in Canada. Spurred by its popularity, the Joe-Pete dinner dance became an annual feature and an event much looked forward by old boys and family. In the last 10 years, well known musical groups from Sri Lanka have performed at the dance but 2007 was a special year. The dance drew a record crowd of just under 550 guests with the fabulous Gypsies in attendance. In all sincerity the Joe-Pete Dinner Dance always attracted large crowds since 1988 - partly due to its reputation as a well organized community event and partly due to the fact that more and more old boys have been coming to Canada in the last few decades. This fact augurs well for the organization!