On August 3rd, 1999, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced the appointment of Herb Dhaliwal, M.P., as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
Mr. Dhaliwal was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993, representing the federal riding of Vancouver South. In 1997 he was reelected, representing the redistributed riding of Vancouver South-Burnaby. As a Member of Parliament, Mr. Dhaliwal 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 also served as vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Health and the Task Force on Aquaculture and was chair of the British Columbia Liberal Caucus and the Northern and Western Liberal Caucus. He was appointed as Minister of National Revenue in June 1997, where he served until August 1999.
He was an active member of the Prime Minister's Team Canada Trade Mission to India and also led the Canadian observer presence for presidential elections to the Dominican Republic. Mr. Dhaliwal has taken part in parliamentary delegations to Cuba, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in New York City, and the International Parliamentary Union Conference in Beijing, China.
Mr. Dhaliwal graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia in 1971. He has more than 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors as a small businessperson and entrepreneur, specializing in transportation, maintenance, and real estate development. He has also served as vice-chair of the Board of Directors for the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority and as chair of British Columbia Hydro's Budget and Audit Committees.
Mr. Dhaliwal has played an active role in a number of non-governmental organizations such as the United Way, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the India Cultural Centre of Canada, the Orientation Adjustment Services for Immigrants Society, and the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society. He has also received special recognition from the Khalsa Diwan Society and the South Asian Lawyers Association and was honoured with a citation from the Canadian Red Cross Society for his work in assisting Kurdish refugees.
He is a life member of the India Cultural Centre of Canada, located in Richmond, B.C.
He is the Honorary Co-Chair of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, B.C.-Yukon Division Foundation in Vancouver, B.C.
He is also an Honorary Patron of the Canadian Museum of Civilization's "India: The Living Arts" exhibit which will open in May, 2000, in Hull, Quebec.
Mr. Dhaliwal was born in Northern Punjab, India, in 1952. He and his wife, Amrit, have three children: Andrea, Justin, and Jessica.
Learn more about Minister Dhaliwal's activities as
MP for Vancouver South - Burnaby.
Visit his Web site at http://herbdhaliwal.com
Updated October 12, 1999