Jagrup Brar is a Canadian politician. He is a

member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, representing the riding of Surrey-Panorama Ridge from 2004 to 2009, then

Surrey-Fleetwood Surrey-Fleetwood is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the ''Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was first contested in the 2009 election. Surrey-Fleetwood is an amalgamation of most of Surrey-Tynehead ...

from 2009 to 2013 and since 2017. A member of the

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

(BC NDP), he currently serves as Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals. Previously, he served as the Minister of State for Trade from 2022 until 2024.

Background

Born in

Bathinda District Bathinda district is in Malwa region of Punjab, India. The district encompasses an area of 3,385 square kilometers. By area, Bathinda district is the second-largest in Punjab, after Ludhiana district. It is bounded by Faridkot district and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, India, Brar was part of the India men's national basketball team. He moved to Canada to study at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, where he received a Master's degree in Public Administration. He then moved to

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

, where he worked in career and entrepreneurship development for

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organizations, including as executive director of the Surrey Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society (SEEDS). He has two children with wife Rajwant.

Political career

He first entered politics by running as the NDP candidate in the October 2004 by-election for the riding of Surrey-Panorama Ridge, triggered by the resignation of

BC Liberal BC United (BCU), known from 1903 until 2023 as the British Columbia Liberal Party or BC Liberals, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and occupying a centre-right ...

MLA Gulzar Cheema. He won the by-election with 6,740 votes (53.59%), defeating Liberal candidate Mary Polak to become a member of British Columbia's 37th Legislative Assembly. He was re-elected to the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

by winning 11,553 votes (53.17%) in the 2005 provincial election, and served as opposition deputy caucus chair and opposition critic for public safety and the Solicitor General in the 38th Legislative Assembly. With the NDP reserving the Surrey-Panorama riding for a female candidate in the 2009 provincial election, Brar instead contested the newly established riding of

, winning the seat by 1,992 votes. He was named critic for small business by NDP leader Adrian Dix in April 2011. In early 2012, Brar participated in the Raise the Rates MLA Welfare Challenge by living on $610 for one month, the standard wage given to welfare recipients in BC at the time. Brar lived in a small room in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues, including disproportio ...

for part of the month-long challenge. He lost 26 pounds during the event and reported feeling constantly hungry and his mind "fuzzy" due to a lack of adequate nutrition and sleep. He kept a blog of his experiences and the media exposure surrounding the event significantly raised public awareness of welfare rates in BC. In August 2012, Brar was criticized by Liberal MLA

Bill Bennett William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was a Canadian politician who was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986. Early life Bennett was the son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former premier W. ...

for praising Cuba's health and education system on a Punjabi radio station after a holiday in the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

country. He was defeated in the 2013 provincial election by BC Liberal candidate Peter Fassbender by 200 votes. He then ran for president of the BC NDP but lost to Craig Keating at the November 2013 party convention. In the 2017 provincial election Brar defeated Fassbender in a re-match, then won re-election in the 2020 provincial election. He was acclaimed as caucus chair for the governing NDP on November 10, 2021, replacing outgoing chair Bob D'Eith. On December 7, 2022, he was named Minister of State for Trade by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

David Eby David Robert Patrick Eby (; born July 21, 1976) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the 37th and current premier of British Columbia since November 18, 2022. Eby is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) a ...

. After the 2024 election, he was named Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals.

Electoral record

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - MLA: Hon. Jagrup Brar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brar, Jagrup Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Indian emigrants to Canada People from Bathinda district People from Surrey, British Columbia University of Manitoba alumni Indian men's basketball players 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia