Munmohan Singh "Moe" Sihota (born February 18, 1955) is a former Canadian broadcaster and politician.
She was born in Duncan, British Columbia and attended St. George's Boys School, Vancouver, with a scholarship. He earned a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of British Columbia in 1977, was awarded a scholarship to Warwick School of Economics, London, 1981 and a law degree from the University of Victoria in 1982. He was a social worker at White Rock in 1978-9 and a lawyer at Esquimalt in 1984.
Video Moe Sihota
Karier politik
His political career began during his undergraduate at the University of British Columbia as Ombudsman for UBC and served as Vice President for the Board of Governors. He became New Democratic Young President in 1978 and also served as President of Cowichan - Malahat - NDP Federal Islands as well as a campaign manager for Frank Mitchell and Jim Manly elected to the British Columbia Legislature and the House of Commons of Canada respectively. In 1984, Sihota was elected Alderman for Esquimalt.
In 1986, Sihota ran as NDP Candidate in riding Esquimalt-Port Renfrew to replace retired Frank Mitchell. He held the seat easily and became the first Indo-Canadian to be elected federal or provincial rider.
In 1991, Sihota ran for re-election in the Esquimalt-Metchosin new rider as part of a NDP landslide victory. Subsequently, he was named by Prime Minister Mike Harcourt in his first cabinet, Minister of Labor and Consumer Services and Minister for Responsibility for Constitutional Affairs, becoming the first Indian-Canadian ministerial cabinet in the Canadian province.
He continued to serve in several cabinet posts under the New Democratic regime of Harcourt as well as under the subsequent governments of Glen Clark and Dan Miller, but was forced to resign from the cabinet several times.
During his career, he created 200 new Provincial Parks, Extensive Workers Compensation Scope for agricultural workers and changed BC logging practices. He also serves on the Board of Directors of BC Hydro and Power Authority, BC Insurance Company, Workers' Compensation Board and BC Buildings Corporation.
Maps Moe Sihota
Controversy
The Law of the BC Law Society made a mistake
Sihota resigned as Minister of Labor in 1995 after the Law Society of BC suspended his license to practice for 18 months, finding he was guilty of professional misconduct. He was reinstated to the Cabinet in 1996, but resigned again in December of the same year due to new allegations of corruption, abuse of office, and conflicts of interest. The new allegations are due to the actions he took while in office in favor of his friend and former Vancouver MP Herb Dhaliwal. In his memoir, A Measure of Defiance, former BC Prime Minister Mike Harcourt commented that "Although the BC Law Society denies the allegation, the clue that our vocal environmental ministerial investigations are too politically strong to be dismissed quickly is British, Columbia, a bad and partisan political center. There is no public condemnation of the incident and most of its constituents, reporters, and even political enemies, Moe's credibility does not suffer seriously.
BC Hydro designation
In 1991 Sihota helped his friend, Dhaliwal, was appointed to the board of B.C. Hydro in 1991, after Dhaliwal provided Sihota with substantial mortgage guarantees. Opposition BC Liberal then requested an investigation by Conflict Commissioner Ted Hughes. Hughes later discovers that Sihota is not in a conflict of interest. However, Hughes also said at the time that findings that had a new law had existed during Dhaliwal's appointment in 1991, Sihota would be found to be in a conflict of interest.
Limousine license
In 1996 Dhaliwal had applied to the Carrier Commissions for some licenses related to a limousine company partly owned by Dhaliwal and run by Sihota's cousin. It was later revealed by the former chairman of the Commission that Sihota has made repeated calls and wrote several letters to the commission in connection with Dhaliwal's application. Sihota resigned from the cabinet in 1996. The new investigation began not by the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, but by members of the NDP party and Glen Clark deputy deputy Doug McArthur. Although McArthur found that Sihota had "done poor judgment and oppressed the commission staff", he found that Sihota was not in a conflict of interest. Glen Clark then raised Sihota back to the cabinet in 1998.
Post Glen Clark era
After retiring from politics following the defeat of the NDP in the 2001 provincial elections, Sihota became the television host for The New VI (formerly A-Channel now CTV2) in Victoria. He left the station in 2004 when his call-in show, VILand Voices, was canceled due to reorganization. He is currently providing political commentary for the CBC Preliminary Political Panel.
Since 2004, Sihota has pursued several business opportunities and is currently a part owner and director of Northern Bear Golf Club (Edmonton, AB), Four Points Sheraton (Victoria, BC) and Walton's Lakefront Resort (Osoyoos, BC).
In 2012, Vancouver Magazine called Sihota as one of the 50 most influential citizens of B.C
In 2015, Sihota received the Jubilee Diamond Ratu Medal for contributions to the Canadian Society.
In 2005, the Parvasi Award was created to honor the extraordinary achievement by Punjabi Canadians. Sihota is the recipient of the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of becoming the first Indo Canada elected to the Canadian Legislature and the first Indo Canada ever to be appointed Cabinet member.
The 100-Year Travel Project tells the stories of the first 100 South Asians who impacted the Canadian Society, hired new territory, and broke new ground. Mr.Sihota received the Pioneer and Navigator 2015 Award for his work on Politics and Public Policy.
Following the election of the New Democratic Government in Alberta, Mr.Sihota joins the Edmonton Canadian Strategic Group to provide political and policy advice to the Alberta Companies, Trade Unions and non-profits.
President of SM NDP
In November 2009, Sihota was elected to the position of President of the New Democratic Party BC. In October 2010, the media revealed that Sihota was being paid salary for his position as President, with payments from the Canadian General Workers Union, United Steelworkers and the BC Labor Federation. Sihota was elected for a second term at the 2011 party convention.
Sihota, along with party leader Adrian Dix, faces criticism for running a poor campaign following the unexpected defeat of the NDP in the 2013 provincial elections. On September 21, 2013, a day after Dix announced his intention to step down as a leader, Sihota announced that he would step down as party president the end of his term in November 2013. He is credited with modernizing the NDP fundraising capacity and applying outreach to the business community during his tenure.
Personal life
Sihota currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia and is married to two children, Rajan and Karina. Karina works for the Canadian Labor Congress and Rajan works in digital marketing for rock bands.
References
External links
- Moe Sihota
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments