On January 15, 2002, Prime Minister
Jean Chrétien announced the appointment of
Herb Dhaliwal, M.P., as Minister of Natural Resources
and political minister for British Columbia.
Herb Dhaliwal was born in Chiheru, Punjab in 1952,
and came to Canada at age six with his family, not
speaking a word of English. He grew up in Vancouver
South-Burnaby and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce
degree from the University of British Columbia in
1977, where he was active in student politics. Following
his graduation from university, Mr. Dhaliwal started
a small business in the basement of his house ? this
one-man building maintenance company eventually expanded
to employ 500 people in various enterprises. He has
held, he says, every job you can think of, from gas
jockey to taxi driver.
Prior to entering politics, Mr. Dhaliwal?s career
as a small businessman and entrepreneur spanned more
than 25 years in the private and public sectors, specializing
in transportation, maintenance, and real estate development.
As an entrepreneur, he held the position of vice-chair
on the Board of Directors for the British Columbia
Hydro and Power Authority and of chair on British
Columbia Hydro's Budget and Audit Committees.
Mr. Dhaliwal was first elected
to the House of Commons in 1993, representing
the federal riding of Vancouver South. As Member of
Parliament, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and served on the
Steering Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and the
Standing Committees on Finance and Fisheries and Oceans.
He was designated vice-chair of the Standing Committee
on Health and the Task Force on Aquaculture, and chair
of the British Columbia Liberal Caucus and the Northern
and Western Liberal Caucus.
In 1996, Mr.
Dhaliwal played an active and prominent role as a
member of the Prime Minister's Team Canada trade mission
to India. Mr. Dhaliwal led the Canadian observer
presence for presidential elections to the Dominican
Republic; and he has taken part in parliamentary delegations
to Cuba and to UNESCO in New York City. He participated
and addressed the International Parliamentary Union
Conference in Beijing, China, which resulted in the
acceptance of the Canadian delegation?s resolution
banning the use of anti-personnel land mines.
In 1997, Mr. Dhaliwal
was re-elected in the re-distributed riding of Vancouver
South-Burnaby and appointed as Minister of National
Revenue where he served until August 1999. Under Mr.
Dhaliwal?s leadership at Revenue Canada, the federal
department was restructured and re-named the Canada
Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to better serve
the public, Canada's business community, and the provinces
and territories. In 1998, as Minister of National
Revenue, Mr. Dhaliwal accompanied Canada?s then Governor
General, Roméo LeBlanc, on his state visit
to India. This state visit was the first-ever made
to India by a Governor General.
On August 3rd, 1999,
Mr. Dhaliwal was appointed Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans and he was re-elected for a third consecutive
time in November 2000. As Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans, Mr. Dhaliwal led the ratification of the
United Nations Fish Agreement in 30 countries around
the globe, and took an active role in promoting oceans
preservation ? he appointed a Ministerial Oceans Advisory
Committee; in 2001 he instituted an annual international
conference on Oceans Stewardship in Vancouver; in
the same year he chaired the Ministerial Section of
the UN Environment Program Meeting, where more than
100 countries were represented, for the Global Programme
of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment
from Land-based Activities (GPA); and he attended
the Oceans and Coasts Conference at Rio + 10 in Paris.
Mr. Dhaliwal also took an active and prominent role
in promoting sustainable, environmentally responsible
aquaculture development in Canada. As a recognition
of his contribution, the Canadian Aquaculture Industry
created the Herb Dhaliwal Sustainable Aquaculture
Award.
Mr. Dhaliwal has the rare distinction of being
the first South Asian to hold a Ministerial position
anywhere in a Western democracy.
In June 2000, Mr. Dhaliwal was included
in the Vancouver Sun's listing as one of the hundred
most influential British Columbians of the last 100
years. He spearheaded the creation of a commemorative
postage stamp to celebrate and honour 100 years of
Sikhs in Canada, in conjunction with the tercentenary
of the Khalsa in April 1999.
Mr. Dhaliwal?s interests include golfing, skiing,
travelling, reading, jogging and tennis. His travels
have taken him to many parts of the world.
He is married to Amrit and they have three children:
Andrea, Justin, and Jessica