Moe Sihota

Born in Duncan, British Columbia, He earned a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1977, and was a social worker in White Rock from 1978 to 1979. He was awarded a scholarship to Warwick School of Economics in 1981, and earned a law degree from the University of Victoria, He married his wife Jessie in 1985. They have two children together, Rajan and Karina. ==Political career==

His political career began during his undergraduate years, serving as external affairs officer for the UBC student society, the Alma Mater Society, After graduating from UBC, he became president of the Young New Democrats, He was also the campaign manager for Frank Mitchell and Jim Manly, who were re-elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 1983 and the House of Commons of Canada in 1984 respectively. Sihota was elected as an alderman for Esquimalt in 1984. and became the first Indo-Canadian to be elected to any federal or provincial riding. In 1991, Sihota ran for and won re-election in the new riding of Esquimalt-Metchosin as part of an NDP landslide victory. becoming the first Indo-Canadian cabinet minister in a province of Canada. He once again resigned his cabinet posts in December 1996, then returned to cabinet as Minister Responsible for Public Service in October 1998, before becoming Minister of Social Development and Economic Security in July 1999. He considered running in the leadership election, but pulled out by December 1999. Ujjal Dosanjh was elected NDP leader in February 2000, and did not name Sihota to any cabinet position. During his time in government, he created 200 new provincial parks, extended workers' compensation coverage to farm workers, and changed BC logging practices. He also served as Minister Responsible for BC Hydro, Minister Responsible for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, and Government House Leader. ==Controversy==

BC Hydro appointment Sihota helped his friend and former Vancouver MP Herb Dhaliwal become appointed to the board of B.C. Hydro in 1991, after Dhaliwal provided Sihota with a substantial mortgage guarantee. The opposition BC Liberals then requested an investigation by Conflict Commissioner Ted Hughes. Hughes later found that Sihota had not been in a conflict of interest. However, Hughes also said at the time of the finding that had the new laws been in place during Dhaliwal's appointment in 1991, Sihota would have been found to be in a conflict of interest. BC Law Society misconduct Sihota resigned from cabinet in May 1995 after the Law Society of British Columbia found him guilty of professional misconduct and suspended his licence to practice for 18 months; he was reinstated to cabinet that August. Limousine licences In 1996 Dhaliwal had applied to the Motor Carrier Commission for several licences related to a limousine company partly owned by Dhaliwal and run by Sihota's cousin. It was later revealed by the former Commission chairman that Sihota had made repeated calls and wrote several letters to the commission in relation to Dhaliwal's applications. Sihota again resigned from cabinet in December 1996. A new investigation was started not by the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, but by fellow NDP party member and Glen Clark deputy minister Doug McArthur. Although McArthur found that Sihota had "exercised poor judgment and bullied commission staff", he found that Sihota had not been in a conflict of interest. Glen Clark then reappointed Sihota back to cabinet in 1998. ==Post-MLA career==

With the NDP behind in polls, Sihota announced in March 2001 that he would not run again in that May's provincial election. After finishing his term as MLA, he joined CIVI-TV (formerly The New VI, now CTV 2), a television station in Victoria which went on air in October 2001. He initially co-anchored the station's early evening newscast, then became the host for phone-in show VILand Voices before being let go in 2004 as part of station restructuring. Since then he had provided political commentary for CBC Radio's Early Edition political panel. In 2012, Sihota received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canadian society. In 2005, the Parvasi Awards were created to honour outstanding achievements by Canadian Punjabis. Sihota was the recipient of the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of being the first Indo-Canadian elected to a Canadian legislature and the first Indo-Canadian ever to be appointed to a cabinet. The 100 Year Journey Project chronicles the stories of the first 100 South Asians that impacted Canadian society, chartered new territories and broke new ground. Sihota received the 2015 Pioneers and Navigators Award for his work in politics and public policy. After the 2015 election of the New Democratic government in Alberta, Sihota joined Edmonton's Canadian Strategy Group as a strategic counsel to provide political and policy advice to Alberta corporations, trade unions and non-profits. BC NDP president In November 2009, Sihota was elected to the position of president of the BC New Democratic Party. with payments from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, United Steelworkers, and the British Columbia Federation of Labour. Sihota was elected to a second term at the 2011 party convention. He was credited with modernizing the NDP's fundraising capacity and implementing outreach to the business community during his term. ==References==