Indo-Canadian Niki Sharma appointed Deputy Premier of British Columbia

The new provincial Cabinet was announced by BC Premier David Eby on Monday.

Sharma, who is of Hindu heritage, will retain her portfolio of Attorney-General, which she held in the previous government, and has been elevated to the post of Deputy Premier. Premier is the equivalent of a Chief Minister of an Indian state.

Other Indo-Canadians in the Cabinet include Ravi Parmar, who will be in charge of Forests, Jagrup Brar, who will handle Mining and Critical Minerals and Ravi Kahlon, who gets Housing and Municipal Affairs. Another of the cohort, Raj Chauhan is expected to return as Speaker of the provincial legislature.

Three other Indo-Canadians have been appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries by Eby. They are Jessie Sunner, who will deal with Anti-Racism Initiatives, Harwinder Sandhu, who gets Agriculture, and Sunita Dhir, who has been given International Credentials.

As many as 14 Indo-Canadians were elected to the BC Legislative Assembly in the election held on October 19.

A statement from Premier Eby said the new ministry “reflects the diversity and strengths of British Columbia. There will be more women than men in Cabinet”. “This experienced and capable team will be focused on addressing the priority issues we heard loud and clear from British Columbians. We’re honoured to have been given the opportunity to tackle these serious challenges,” Eby said.

In becoming the Deputy Premier Sharma will be the first Indo-Canadian to occupy that position. BC has already had an Indo-Canadian Premier in Ujjal Dosanjh, who led the province from 2000 and 2001.

Sharma was also the first woman of colour to have been appointed Attorney General of the province, according to her profile.

The new Cabinet includes 23 Ministers and four Ministers of State, and is supported in its work by 14 Parliamentary Secretaries