Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, PC (born December 12, 1952) 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 ...

politician and businessman. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1993 election as the Liberal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Vancouver South Vancouver South (french: Vancouver-Sud) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1997, and since 2004. It covers the southern portion of the city of ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jean Chrétien recommended Dhaliwal's appointment to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

(the first Indian-Canadian to become a federal cabinet minister) in 1997 as Minister of Revenue. In 1999, he became

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...

, and in 2002 he was appointed

Minister of Natural Resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfoli ...

and Minister with political responsibility for

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

. Dhaliwal was a firm supporter of Chrétien against

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

's attempt to force the Liberal leader to retire. As a result, Martin's campaign team targeted Dhaliwal and successfully took over his

riding association An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...

. Dhaliwal publicly denounced Martin's campaign team for this and criticized them for restricting access to Liberal Party membership forms. When Chrétien announced his resignation, Dhaliwal briefly considered running in the 2003 Liberal leadership campaign, but decided against it. Several months later, he endorsed Martin for leader and said he would be willing to serve in a Martin cabinet. However, on December 3, 2003, he announced that he would not be running for re-election.

Business

After graduating from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, M ...

degree, he started a maintenance company out of his basement. He is a top level executive of Dynamic Facility Services Ltd. He became a self-made millionaire with diversified business interests including transportation, maintenance and real estate development. Dhaliwal is chairman of National Green Biomed Ltd., a

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictio ...

producer that donated $1 million in 2015 for health research into medical

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

at the University of British Columbia. He spoke about decriminalization of cannabis by the

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

federal government.

Personal life

Born in India at Chaheru, Distt.

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent bui ...

Punjab in 1952, Dhaliwal's family emigrated to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

when he was six. He attended John Oliver Secondary School, graduating in 1972. Dhaliwal is married to one Amrit Kaur. He has two daughters and a son.

Election results

References

External links

*
Personal site

Federal Parliament Biography
- The Honourable Herb Dhaliwal {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhaliwal, Herb Living people Businesspeople from Vancouver Canadian real estate businesspeople Canadian Sikhs Canadian transportation businesspeople Indian emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Mining ministers of Canada People from Punjab, India Politicians from Vancouver Punjabi people UBC Sauder School of Business alumni Canadian politicians of Punjabi descent 1952 births