Ottawa: Indo-Canadian Niki Sharma has been appointed Deputy Premier of Canada's British Columbia (BC) province in a new cabinet announced by Premier David Eby. In addition, three other newly-elected MLAs from the Indian community were named Cabinet ministers.
Sharma, who becomes the first Indo-Canadian to occupy the new position, will retain her portfolio of Attorney-General, which she held in the previous government. Sharma was also the first woman of color to have been appointed Attorney General of the province, according to her profile.
In Canada, a premier is the equivalent of a chief minister of an Indian state. BC has already had an Indo-Canadian Premier in Ujjal Dosanjh, who led the province from 2000 and 2001.
As many as 14 Indo-Canadians were elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly in the election held in October. (Photo courtesy: X@Dave_Eby)
The three Indo-Canadians, who have been appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries by Eby, are Jessie Sunner, who will deal with Anti-Racism Initiatives, Harwinder Sandhu, who gets Agriculture, and Sunita Dhir, who has been given International Credentials.
Other Indo-Canadians in the cabinet include Ravi Parmar, who will be in charge of Forests, Jagrup Brar, who will handle Mining and Critical Minerals and Ravi Kahlon, who gets Housing and Municipal Affairs. Another of the cohort, Raj Chauhan is expected to return as Speaker of the provincial legislature.
As many as 14 Indo-Canadians were elected to the BC Legislative Assembly in the election held on October 19. The new Cabinet includes 23 Ministers and four Ministers of State and is supported by 14 Parliamentary Secretaries.
