Rajinder Singh Pannu (January 12, 1934 – January 30, 2025) was a Canadian politician and educator, who served as the leader of the

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

from 2000 to 2004, and served a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

(MLA) representing the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona from 1997 to 2008.

Early life and education

Pannu was born in Punjab Province, British India, completing an undergraduate degree before immigrating to Canada in 1962. He settled in Whitecourt, Alberta, where he worked as a high school teacher until 1964. In 1964 he moved to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

to work on a graduate program, completing a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

in 1973. He taught at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

for one year (1968–69) before returning to the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, where he taught for 27 years until his retirement in 1996. He was Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta.

Political career

Pannu entered provincial politics in 1997 when he was first elected to the

representing the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona. Pannu became leader of the

in February 2000 after the previous leader, Pam Barrett, retired from politics. Pannu ran a high-profile campaign in the 2001 Alberta election. T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Raj Against the Machine", as well as a reputation as a "likeable and honest politician" contributed to his popularity and made him a leader well respected by supporters and non-supporters alike. He announced on July 13, 2004, that he was resigning as party leader. Fellow MLA

Brian Mason Brian David Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician who was leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2014 and served the Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government. He also served as the Gover ...

, the deputy leader, became interim leader. Mason was formally elected leader in a

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Politics of Canada, Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leadership, leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, ...

held on September 18. However, he sought re-election as an MLA in the 26th Alberta general election, and was re-elected by a wide margin. On June 14, 2006, he announced his retirement from Alberta politics at the dissolution of the legislature, which took place in February 2008.

Personal life and death

Pannu was married to Swinder and had one child, Savi. Pannu died in Edmonton on January 30, 2025, at the age of 91.

References

External links

All The Raj, SEE Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pannu, Raj 1934 births 2025 deaths Leaders of the Alberta CCF/NDP Alberta New Democratic Party MLAs Indian emigrants to Canada People from Whitecourt Politicians from Edmonton 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta