Rajinder Singh "Raj" Pannu (born January 12, 1934) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

educator and politician, who led the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democr ...

from 2000 to 2004. Pannu was born in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

completing an undergraduate degree before immigrating to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1962. He settled in Whitecourt,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, where he worked as a high school teacher until 1964. In 1964 he moved to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

to work on a graduate program, completing a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

in 1973. He taught at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

for one year (1968–69) before returning to the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

, where he taught for 27 years until his retirement in 1996. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta. He entered provincial politics in 1997 when he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the riding of

Edmonton-Strathcona Edmonton-Strathcona is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. It shares the same name as the federal electoral district of Edmonton Strathcona. The boundaries of Edmonton-Strathcona include the neig ...

. Pannu became leader in February 2000 after the previous leader,

Pam Barrett Pamela T. Barrett (November 26, 1953 – January 21, 2008) was a Canadian politician who sat in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a member of the New Democratic Party. Early political career Barrett started working for the Alberta New Demo ...

, retired from politics. Pannu ran a high-profile campaign in the 2001 Alberta election. T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Raj Against the Machine", as well as a reputation as a "likeable and honest politician" contributed to his popularity and made him a leader well respected by supporters and non-supporters alike. He announced on July 13, 2004 that he was resigning as party leader. Fellow MLA

Brian Mason Brian David Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician who was leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2014 and served the Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government. He also served as the Governme ...

, the deputy leader, became interim leader. Mason was formally elected leader in a leadership convention held on September 18. However, he sought re-election as an MLA in the

26th Alberta general election The 2004 Alberta general election was held on November 22, 2004 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The election was called on October 25, 2004. Premier Ralph Klein decided to go to the polls earlier than the legislated dead ...

, and was re-elected by a wide margin. On June 14, 2006, he announced his retirement from Alberta politics at the dissolution of the legislature, which took place in February 2008.

References

External links

All The Raj, SEE Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pannu, Raj 1934 births Living people Alberta CCF/NDP leaders Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Indian emigrants to Canada Canadian politicians of Indian descent People from Whitecourt Politicians from Edmonton 21st-century Canadian politicians