Ujjal Dosanjh

Ujjal Dosanjh Singh, PC ( born September 9, 1947 in Jalandhar, India) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was on 24 February 2000 to June 5, 2001 Prime Minister of British Columbia and thus the first native of Asia head of government of a Canadian province. During this time he was also chairman of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP ). Three years later, he stepped over to the Liberal Party of Canada and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. From June 2004 to February 2006, he was Canadian health minister in Paul Martin's cabinet.

Early life

1964 Dosanjh emigrated at the age of 17 years to London and four years later moved on to Canada. He worked for several years in a sawmill in Vancouver and attended evening classes at Langara College in passing and at Simon Fraser University where he earned a degree in political science. In 1976 he graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of British Columbia, in 1979 he opened a law office in Vancouver.

Dosanjh became involved in various organizations and fought for civil rights, worker protection and multiculturalism. As a prominent moderate Sikh who publicly spoke out against the violence of Sikh extremists in India, he was affected by attacks. 1985 attacked him a man in the parking lot next to his office with a copper pipe to. Dosanjh broke his hand and his head had to be sewn with 80 stitches. In December 1999, an incendiary bomb devastated his campaign office.

Provincial policy

After unsuccessful attempts in 1979 and 1983, Dosanjh abolished in 1991 for the constituency Vancouver - Kensington election as deputies in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. At the provincial level, he was Minister for Government offices and Minister for Multiculturalism, Human Rights and sports. 1995 appointed him Prime Minister Glen Clark to Attorney General. In the 1996 elections Dosanjh could defend his seat.

When Clark was forced to resign because of a scandal, Dosanjh was elected on 24 February 2000 as the new Chairman of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP ) and went to the office of Prime Minister. The government was very unpopular and Dosanjh tried in vain to regain the trust of voters in his party. In the elections on 16 May 2001, the NDP suffered a heavy defeat and won only two of 79 seats. Dosanjh lost his own seat, resigned on 5 June 2001 and returned to his profession as a lawyer.

Federal policy

2004 Dosanjh returned to politics back, this time as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada for the general election on 28 June 2004. Prime Minister Paul Martin put him directly as a candidate in the electoral district of Vancouver South, and thus bypassed the usual nomination process. Even former NDP party colleagues criticized Dosanjh. Yet he was clearly elected and appointed promptly by Paul Martin to the health minister.

In the general election on 23 January 2006 Dosanjh defended his mandate. But he had to resign as minister, as the Liberals had lost their majority. As a member of the Shadow Cabinet, he was first spokesman for defense. In January 2007, he was named Leader of the Opposition Stéphane Dion for foreign policy spokesman. On 13 February 2007 Dosanjh suffered outside the parliament building in Ottawa a heart attack and had to undergo surgery to have them removed a blood clot. In the general election on 14 October 2008, he managed the re-election by a margin of only 22 votes.

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