After 24 years, the Randhawa family is moving away from the Yukon and down to Surrey, B.C., where Grace, 23, Jessica, 21, and Jasmina, 17 attend university.

With their departure, many Yukoners are feeling the loss of great advocates of children, women's rights, human rights and labour.

But Jasbir Randhawa says it's their work and advocacy that have left them with such a strong foundation in their family that it doesn't seem right to move apart just yet.

'We've gone through our ups and downs,' says Jasbir, reflecting on her family's time in the Yukon during an interview on Tuesday.

'There were some battles. There were some challenges we faced and there were some issues we dealt with and there were some fights we have to do.

'It don't think the fight was with anybody, I think you have to fight the system.'

Her husband, Har, first came to Canada in 1967 and worked across Canada before settling in the Yukon, where Jasbir came to meet him in 1981.

The two have become fixtures in the Whitehorse community.

'It's really hard to leave home,' says Jasbir. 'God lives here. The serenity. You know it's big and it's small too. It has everything, everything here.'

Har previously volunteered with the Yukon Government Employees Union and the Yukon Federation of Labour.

Jasbir later became actively involved with Yukon Child Care Association. She opened her own child care centre, Jasbir's Family Dayhome, in 1995, because after raising her own children she felt there was a need for quality daycare in the community.

Her work has caused much of the Whitehorse community to view her as an advocate for women's and human rights in the territory.

She ran as an NDP candidate in the 2000 territorial election in the riding of Riverside, but lost to Liberal Scott Kent by 157 votes in the Grits' sweep of the Whitehorse-area seats.

'I think I worked 20 years over the (last) 10 years doing advocacy. During the day, you're working with kids; during the night, you're fighting with the government,' she says.

However, what the Randhawas may be most remembered for is their dedication and perseverance in a human rights commission case which alleged workplace discrimination against Har.

'I still feel sad about it and I still get very emotional,' says Jasbir.

In 1987, Har filed three discrimination grievances against the YTG after he was repeatedly overlooked for a promotion at his job with the-then Department of Community and Transportation Services, where he worked as a heavy-duty mechanic.

Har had applied for a job as a mechanical superintendent, which in 1986 he felt he was more qualified for than other candidates in the pool. After not being promoted in three instances, he began to suspect his Indo-Canadian race and Sikh religious beliefs might be a factor.

In 1994, the human rights commission agreed.

After almost 12 years, Har was compensated for the discrimination and back payments of wages, interests and benefits he would have earned if he had won the promotion.

Jasbir says the case wasn't about creating trouble for the YTG nor a fight against a specific person.

'If the system is hurting you and not treating you right, then you need to correct it if you believe in fairness and justice,' she says. 'There's something wrong in the system, when you're experienced and you don't get the job.'

Jasbir believes her family's dedication to the case helped pave the way for other people. 'Someone has to do the first steps,' she says.

However, the case also called for the Randhawa family to make sacrifices, she says, and did have a lasting impact on their lives.

'There is no compensation for the 12 years of your life. It made us very strong, but on the other hand,' she reflects, 'sometimes when you have to fight uphill battles with the big regime, it takes so much away from you. That's where our family's strength came.'

It is the strength of the Randhawa family that is playing a great factor in the couple's decision to move into the home their daughters have been living in while they attend Simon Fraser University.

'Fighting human rights and everything, I think it brought us very, very close,' says Jasbir. 'We are a very close-knit family and I'd just like to enjoy my kids more before they get married, before I have grandkids.'

Just two months ago, Jasbir and Har were telling friends they would not be moving away to be with their daughters, saying they understood children grow up and move away.

But as they watched their youngest daughter, Jasmina, begin to pack to leave for school during July, they were already missing their children.

'There are tears in my eyes every day,' says Jasbir.

Then a local woman offered to buy their Riverdale home in late July. By Aug. 12, an agreement had been reached and now the family is set to leave on Oct. 1.

'There's a time for everything,' says Jasbir. 'I just believe in it. I think sometimes when you want to to make a change, sometimes there's a higher power who will show you the path.'

Jasbir says her daughters have jokingly said she and Har were living in denial thinking they would stay in the Yukon.

But, Jasbir says to her the move just makes sense.

Working in child care often demands 12-hour days with no breaks and no time to be sick, she says.

Having worked the last 10 years at what amounts to approximately $7 an hour, Jasbir says, she couldn't justify staying in the Yukon and living so far away from her family.

Har will also be retiring in early 2006, and the timing for the move seemed appropriate. Har will take some vacation time and commute between the Yukon and B.C. until his retirement.

'I think if your kids are treating you well and your kids are very close to you, that's something why you want to make the move,' she says.

'I can come home at the end of the day after meeting with the government, talking about child care, talking about human rights. I know when I come into this house, I am so loved and I am so much protected. Nothing bothers me. I just leave everything over there.'

Within all the Randhawas' volunteer work, the focus of their lives has been their children, she says.

'Children in these days, don't do what we ask them; they do what we do. So you have to role model for children. You cannot change the whole world, but at least you can make these three beautiful children productive citizens.'

The Randhawas are approaching the move as a permanent one, but she says the future may direct them elsewhere.

'You are leaving the Yukon, it's home, but then there's excitement. You are looking forward. Kids will finish their studies. They will get married. They will have kids.'

Looking back on her time in the territory, Jasbir says the memories that shine are the welcome she received when she first arrived, the support of the community and her family.

'The only thing that kept us here for 24 years is this community. It's amazing how wonderful people are,' she says. 'We're leaving behind, all over, you're leaving a big family.'

But, she adds she's not gone for good.

'Yukon is home, and when things are not going well in your home, you need to do something about it. If something's happening in the Yukon and I need to phone from (B.C.) or I need to come here, I will be here.'

In the meantime, though, Jasbir says she isn't sure what she'll do when she arrives in Surrey.

'Right now, this is the first time in my life, I have no plans,' she says. 'I just want to go there and I want to think. For a couple months, I want to take some time off.'

She hopes the province's multicultural community will provide her with opportunities to put her linguistics degree to use and will continue to fight for child care and early childhood education. However, whatever it is that she does, she knows she wants it to include Har and her daughters.

'I would like to do something as a family. We have always worked as family. We are a good team.'

The Yukon Child Care Association will host a farewell party for the Randhawas this evening in the basement of the United Church at Sixth Avenue and Main Street.

Well-wishers are invited to drop in and say goodbye from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.