Gulzar Singh Cheema
Gulzar Singh Cheema | |
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Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Panorama Ridge | |
In office May 16, 2001 – May 23, 2004 | |
Preceded by | Riding established |
Succeeded by | Jagrup Brar |
Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for The Maples | |
In office September 11, 1990 – June 17, 1993 | |
Preceded by | Riding established |
Succeeded by | Gary Kowalski |
Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for Kildonan | |
In office April 26, 1988 – September 11, 1990 | |
Preceded by | Marty Dolin |
Succeeded by | Dave Chomiak |
Minister of State for Mental Health of British Columbia | |
In office June 5, 2001 – January 26, 2004 | |
Premier | Gordon Campbell |
Succeeded by | Susan Brice |
Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services of British Columbia | |
In office January 26, 2004 – March 8, 2004 | |
Premier | Gordon Campbell |
Succeeded by | Patrick Wong |
Personal details | |
Born | (1954-08-11) August 11, 1954 (age 70) India |
Nationality | Canadian |
Political party | Manitoba Liberal Party British Columbia Liberal Party Liberal Party of Canada |
Gulzar Singh Cheema (born August 11, 1954) is an Indian-born Canadian physician and politician.[1] Cheema was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1988 to 1993,[2] and a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2004,[3] making him one of only a few Canadian politicians to sit in two provincial legislatures since Confederation. He is the first Indian-born person to be elected MLA in Canada. He was also a cabinet minister in the government of Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell from 2001 to 2004, and was a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the federal election of 2004.
Education
The son of Ajinder Singh Cheema and Ajit Kaur Aulakh.[1] he was born in village Benagarh Jammu district in the [Jammu and Kashmir] of India. He received a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from Punjab University in 1977. In 1979, he married Harinder Claire daughter of Inderjit Singh Claire and Baljit Claire, and moved to Canada.[4] He interned at Memorial University of Newfoundland and was a resident at Saskatoon's University Hospital.[3] He was a family physician in Winnipeg from 1984 to 1993.[1] In 1992, he was awarded the Canada 125 Medal for community service. To promote the health and welfare of the community, Cheema participates weekly on local multicultural radio talk shows and M Channel, a local multicultural television channel.
Political career
Manitoba politics
In the Manitoba general election of 1988, Cheema was elected as a Liberal in the northeastern Winnipeg riding of Kildonan. The Liberals went from one to twenty seats in the Manitoba legislature in this election, winning several Winnipeg seats from the governing New Democratic Party (NDP). Cheema defeated Progressive Conservative candidate John Baluta by 585 votes,[5] with NDP incumbent Marty Dolin finishing third. The Progressive Conservatives came out of the election with a minority government, and Cheema became a member of the official opposition. Cheema increased his margin of victory in the 1990 provincial election when he ran in the new riding of The Maples,[6] but the Liberal Party fell to seven seats and third-party status. During his time in the Manitoba assembly, he served as critic for health, labour, housing, native affairs, sport and co-operatives, and consumer and corporate affairs.[3] He resigned his seat on June 17, 1993.[2]
British Columbia politics
Soon afterwards, he opened a family practice in Surrey, British Columbia.[1] Cheema became involved in several community activities in British Columbia, including acting as chair of the 1998 British Columbia Games for Athletes with Disabilities' medical section.
Cheema ran as a BC Liberal in that province's 1996 provincial election. He was unsuccessful, finishing 380 votes behind New Democratic Party candidate Ian Waddell in Vancouver-Fraserview.[7]
The New Democrats experienced a sharp decline in their popularity between 1996 and 2001, and the provincial Liberals were elected in a landslide in that year's provincial election. Cheema had no difficulty being elected in Surrey-Panorama Ridge, defeating NDP candidate Bruce Ralston by over 6,000 votes. On June 5, 2001, he was appointed Minister of State for Mental Health Services. On January 20, 2004, he was appointed Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services.[3]
Federal politics
Later in 2004, Cheema sought and won the federal Liberal nomination in the new riding of Fleetwood—Port Kells. He was removed from cabinet hours after submitting his nomination papers, and subsequently resigned as a provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly (Canadian politicians seeking federal office are usually required to step down from their provincial responsibilities). In a relatively close three-way race, Cheema was defeated by Conservative candidate Nina Grewal, 14,052 votes to 11,568 (New Democratic Party candidate Barry Bell received 10,976 votes).[8]
Return to BC politics
In the 2020 provincial election, Cheema was the BC Liberal candidate in Surrey-Panorama, a reconfigured version of his old riding.[9] He was defeated by incumbent NDP member Jinny Sims.[10]
Election results
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
Liberal | Gulzar Singh Cheema | 5,653 | 35.69 | 26.24 | ||||
Progressive Conservative | John Baluta | 5,068 | 31.99 | -3.08 | ||||
New Democratic | Marty Dolin | 4,542 | 28.67 | -22.98 | ||||
Progressive | Sidney Green | 445 | 2.81 | -1.02 | ||||
Western Independence | Tracy Fuhr | 133 | 0.84 | – | ||||
Total valid votes | 15,841 | – | – | |||||
Rejected | 56 | – | ||||||
Eligible voters / turnout | 20,785 | 76.48 | 13.01 | |||||
Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +24.61 | ||||||
Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. |
1990 Manitoba general election: The Maples | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Liberal | Gulzar Singh Cheema | 3,273 | 39.83 | |||||
Progressive Conservative | Norman Isler | 2,684 | 32.66 | |||||
New Democratic | Tony Valeri | 2,260 | 27.50 | |||||
Total valid votes | 8,217 | 100.00 | - | |||||
Rejected ballots | 36 | |||||||
Turnout | 8,253 | 67.00 | ||||||
Eligible voters | 12,318 | |||||||
Source: Elections Manitoba[11] |
2004 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
Conservative | Nina Grewal | 14,052 | 35.8 | – | $67,710 | |||
Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 11,568 | 29.5 | – | $69,483 | |||
New Democratic | Barry Bell | 10,976 | 28.0 | – | $7,669 | |||
Green | David Walters | 2,484 | 6.3 | – | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Joseph Theriault | 167 | 0.4 | – | ||||
Total valid votes | 39,247 | 100.0 | ||||||
Total rejected ballots | 218 | 0.6 | ||||||
Turnout | 39,465 | 59 |
| ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 12,336 | 55.07 | +4.22 | $60,769.34 | |||
Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 9,607 | 42.89 | +1.03 | $65,963.02 | |||
Vision | Sophie Shrestha | 458 | 2.04 | – | $0.00 | |||
Total valid votes | 22,401 | 100.00 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 240 | 1.06 | +0.27 | |||||
Turnout | 22,641 | 51.65 | −9.39 | |||||
Registered voters | 43,835 | |||||||
New Democratic hold | Swing | +1.60 | ||||||
Source: Elections BC[12][13] |
References
- ^ a b c d O'Handley, Kathryn (2001). Canadian Parliamentary Guide. ISBN 0-7876-3561-8.
- ^ a b "MLA Biographies - Living". Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
- ^ a b c d "Cheema, Gulzar". Globe and Mail. June 28, 2004. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
- ^ "Political Landmark - Dr. Gulzar Singh Cheema". Punjab Pavilion.
- ^ "Kildonan". Manitoba. CBC News.
- ^ "The Maples". Manitoba Votes 2003. CBC News.
- ^ "Statement of Votes, 36th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC.
- ^ "Fleetwood--Port Kells, British Columbia (2003 - )". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Library of Parliament.
- ^ Brunoro, Michele (2020-10-07). "Election 2020: Surrey-Panorama important battleground riding for Liberals and NDP". CTVNews. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
- ^ "B.C. election 2020: Surrey-Panorama results - BC | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
- ^ "Candidates: 35th General Election" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. September 11, 1990. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 February 2021.