Battle lines form in Vancouver South
Trudeau expected to push ‘ star’ candidate Harjit Singh Sajjan for Liberal nomination
OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’s Liberals plan to unveil a “star” candidate in Vancouver South who is a man who could be described as a war hero, who was portrayed as a role model in Ottawa’s latest Welcome to Canada booklet for immigrants, and who is the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army regiment.
But Lt.- Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan’s expected candidacy in the federal riding, a former Liberal stronghold won by Conservative Wai Young in 2011, won’t necessarily be smooth sailing.
Sajjan, named in 2011 as commander of the reserve B. C. Regiment ( Duke of Connaught’s Own), was showcased at the recent Liberal convention in Montreal.
The military has strict rules against overt political activities that raise questions about the military’s impartiality, though reservists like Sajjan have far more latitude than soldiers in the regular force.
If Sajjan seeks to become a candidate in the scheduled 2015 election, he will need permission from his superiors, according to the Department of National Defence.
The former Vancouver police officer, decorated after serving once in Bosnia and three times in Afghanistan, could be in for a difficult fight for the nomination.
The other expected candidate is Barjinder Singh Dhahan, a successful businessman, philanthropist and past- chairman of the Canada- India Foundation.
Both men appear in photographs on Gov.- Gen. David Johnston’s website — Sajjan while receiving a Meritorious Service Medal last year for his “critical” intelligence- gathering efforts against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Dhahan after joining Johnston on a state visit to India earlier this year.
The nomination could also shape up as a battle between the two major camps in the South Asian community.
Sajjan is supported by leading members of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, including former WSO president and veteran Liberal power- broker Prem Vinning.
The WSO consists of fundamentalist Sikhs and is a harsh critic of the Indian government. It was created after Indian troops launched a deadly assault against Sikh separatists at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984.
And Sajjan’s father, Kundan S. Sajjan, is a former WSO executive who was the leader of the losing side in a 1998 battle between Sikh fundamentalists and moderates over whether to allow tables and chairs at the Ross Street Temple.
However, his son’s political backers say Harjit Sajjan has never been involved in temple politics.
Dhahan, who doesn’t wear a turban, is former chairman of the Canada- India Foundation, which was set up to foster stronger Canada- India relations. He also helped finance the CanadaIndia Centre for Excellence at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Dhahan, head of the Sandhurst Group that operates a number of Esso and Tim Hortons franchises in B. C., has along with his father established a hospital, a public school, and a nurse training program in India.
There has been speculation that Sajjan is a Trudeau favourite after he was chosen to introduce an even higherprofile Liberal recruit, retired Lt.Gen. Andrew Leslie, at the Montreal convention in February.
That raised questions about whether the Liberals will take steps to ensure Sajjan, if he becomes a candidate, gets the nomination. The Liberals have in the past used their so- called Green Light Committee to bar candidates who stood in the way of the leader’s attempt to recruit stars or bring in more female candidates.
Neither has registered with the party as candidates, but Dhahan said by email that he will seek the nomination.
And the Vancouver South riding president confirmed that both men are expected to be candidates.
“I’m very happy with both of them. They have excellent resumés who would make I think a lot of Liberals proud and would make their constituents very proud to represent them in Ottawa,” said Stewart McGillivray. He said he hopes for an open race. “Having a contested nomination brings more attention and excitement to the process,” McGillivray said of the riding, which was Liberal red 1962 to 1972 and then from 1993 to 2011.
If demographics is a factor in the next vote, however, the advantage would go to Young, the Conservative.
Statistics Canada’s data says there were 121,380 residents in the riding in 2011, with 70,670 identified as immigrants.
Among visible minorities, Chinese were by far the highest total at 51,245. The South Asian community total, including immigrants from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, totalled just 18,800.
Broken down by religion, 12,085 were identified as Sikh.