TORONTO: Three Sikh Canadians were elected as members of the British Columbia Legislature in the provincial voting on May 29. The new legislators are Moe Singh Sihota from Esquimalt Metehosin, Ujjal Singh Dosanjh from Vancouver Kensington, and Harry S. Lali from Yale Lillooet, all ‘in the New Democratic Party, Sihota and Dosanjh were ministers in the— previous government of Premier gal Clark.
Both Sihota and Dosanjh are expected to be included in the new cabinet, according to Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal, who is from Vancouver. Sihota polled 13,438 votes a5 against his nearest Liberal rival, H, Landon, who got 6,606. Dosanjh received 9,198 votes. Lali got 6,757 votes and Liberal candidate Jim Rebuilt had 5,636.
5 Three other Sikh Canadians Dr, Gulazar S. Cheems, Dr, Gur Singh and Charan S_ Gill were also in the fray but they were defeated. Cheema was formerly 4 member of the Manitoba Assembly. Sihota, 41, has been practicing law in British Columbia for many years. He was first elected to the Legislature in 1986 and was reelected in 1991 and has been Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks, He was earlier Minister of Labor and Consumer Services, and also Minister for Multiculturalism and Human Services. Dosanjh 49 is also a lawyer by profession. He was first elected to the Legislature in 1991. This is his second term. 15 Was minister responsible it Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Immigration and later became Attorney General. Lali, 40, graduated from the University of British Columbia, He was first elected to the Legislature in 1991. He has chaired the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries. Before he entered the Legislature, he was an alderman in Merritt. He started his career as a sawmill worker, and then became an employment counselor and businessman. British Columbia is the only province that has three Sikh Canadians as members of the provincial Legislature.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1996
