| Ujjal Dosanjh was sworn
in as British Columbia's 33rd Premier and Canada's
first Indo-Canadian Premier on February 24, 2000.
He had previously served as Minister of Government Services
and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism, Human Rights,
Sports and Immigration in 1995, and served as Attorney General
from August 1995 to February 2000.
First elected as the MLA for Vancouver-Kensington in 1991,
Mr. Dosanjh twice served as Caucus Chair and also chaired
the Select Standing Committee on Parliamentary Reform, Ethical
Conduct, Standing Orders and Private Bills.
Born in India in 1947, Mr. Dosanjh emigrated to England at
the age of 17 and came to Canada four years later. When a
serious back injury left him unable to continue working at
a Vancouver sawmill, Mr. Dosanjh enrolled at Langara College
and subsequently completed a degree in political science at
Simon Fraser University. He earned a law degree at the University
of British Columbia and established a law practice in Vancouver
in 1979.
A long-time human rights activist, his past community involvements
include: South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, MOSAIC, the
B.C. Multicultural Society and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
In 1977 he helped set up the first farm workers' legal information
service while he was chair of the Labour Advocacy Research
Association.
Mr. Dosanjh and his wife, Raminder, have three sons: Pavel,
Aseem and Umber. |
