Jas Johal was elected MLA for Richmond-Queensborough in 2017. He is Deputy Chair of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act and a Member on the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations.
Jas briefly served as the Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services and was later appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations and is the Official Opposition Critic for Economic Development, Competitiveness, Trade and Technology .
He is an award winning journalist. Spending over 23 years extensively traveling B.C. covering news and current affairs, focusing on a wide range of issues ranging from politics, business, transportation, health, and organized crime.
He served as Global Television's Asia bureau chief based in Beijing, and in New Delhi and has reported extensively on Asia's rise, focusing on economic and foreign policy, energy, food, and water security, as well as labour and human rights. He's also reported from conflict zones including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea, Israel, and Lebanon. In Egypt, he witnessed the grass-roots revolution in Tahrir Square that ended Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign and was in Tripoli, Libya covering the final days of Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
In 2013, he became a media fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation - Canada's premier think tank focusing on Canada-Asia relations. He produced, "Our Energy Future: BC At A Crossroads," in 2014. The one-hour long program looked at Asia's energy security needs and the impact on Canada. Jas is also a two-time recipient of the Jack Webster Award. Prior to his posting overseas, Jas was member of Simon Fraser University's advisory council on India. In 2008, Jas was chosen by the Vancouver Sun as one of the 100 most influential Indo-Canadians in British Columbia. He also served on the board of the Fraser Health Authority until October of 2016.
Jas was most recently the Director of Communications at the BC LNG Alliance. Formed in 2014, the Alliance is the voice of British Columbia's liquefied natural gas export industry.
He and his wife Seera have one son, Ishaan.
