Sukh Dhaliwal

Sukhminder "Sukh" Singh Dhaliwal (born October 1, 1960) is a Canadian businessman and politician, who has served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Surrey—Newton since 2015. He was previously the Member of Parliament for Newton—North Delta from 2006 to 2011.

Early life

Born to a Sikh family in Sujapur, Punjab, India, Dhaliwal emigrated from India in 1999 and became a Canadian citizen three years later. As a businessman, he co-founded a successful land surveying company and played an important role in the municipal politics of Surrey where he is said to have dominated the Surrey Electors Team membership list by signing up over 2,600 new party members. This represented over half the total number of members. However, in the November 1999 municipal elections, Dhaliwal lost his own bid for a seat on city council.

As a professional engineer, Fellow of Engineers Canada, land surveyor and small business owner, Dhaliwal has functioned in many community capacities in Surrey before entering public office. He has participated on the Board of Directors for SEEDS (Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society), served as a member of the City of Surrey Parks and Community Services Committee, and volunteered with the Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Emergency Capital Campaign.

Federal politics

Dhaliwal was the federal Liberal candidate for the Newton-North Delta riding in 2004, but lost to Conservative Gurmant Grewal by just over 500 votes. Grewal decided to not seek re-election and, in 2006, Dhaliwal faced Conservative newcomer Phil Eidsvik. The NDP was also strong in the riding and 2004 candidate Nancy Clegg also ran again. Dhaliwal succeeded in winning the seat by exactly 1,000 votes.

In the 2006 Liberal leadership campaign, Dhaliwal initially indicated support for Joe Volpe, but soon moved to support Michael Ignatieff. Dhaliwal was instrumental in building support for Ignatieff's campaign in the Sikh community. Dhaliwal played a key role in Ignatieff's short-lived, but successful, second leadership campaign in 2008.

Dhaliwal in 2008 had written to a U.S. District Court judge on official House of Commons stationery in support of convicted international drug trafficker Ranjit Cheema.

On October 14, 2008, Dhaliwal was re-elected to Parliament by nearly 2,500 votes. Following the election, Dhaliwal was elected as the Chair of the Northern and Western Caucus of the Liberal Party, and served as the critic for the Asia Pacific Gateway and Western Economic Diversification Canada.

Dhaliwal has served on several House of Commons Committees: International Trade; Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities; and Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. The Ethics Committee attracted high-profile attention when it investigated allegations surrounding Karlheinz Schreiber’s dealings with former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Dhaliwal lost his seat to Jinny Sims of the New Democratic Party in the 2011 federal election.

Dhaliwal was acclaimed as the candidate for the British Columbia Liberal Party for the 2013 provincial election. However, he later withdrew after he was charged with six counts of tax evasion related to a business he ran with his wife. He pleaded guilty to three of the charges and was fined $3,000.

In December 2014, Dhaliwal won the Liberal nomination in newly-formed riding of Surrey—Newton ahead of the 2015 election. He defeated NDP incumbent Jinny Sims and won the seat with 56 per cent of the vote.

In 2021, in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre in India, 8 people died in a vehicle-ramming attack. Shaken by the video of the incident Dhaliwal called it a terror attack no different than London, Ontario truck attack.

Dhaliwal endorsed Liberal Party of Canada leadership candidate and economist, Mark Carney, on January 16, 2025.

Sikh Heritage Month

Dhaliwal played a pivotal role in spearheading the effort to have Sikh Heritage Month officially recognized in Canada. His advocacy led to the Parliament of Canada formally acknowledging the significant contributions Sikh Canadians have made to the country's social, economic, political, and cultural landscape, as well as celebrating the richness of Punjabi language, culture, and the Gurmukhi script.

M-112 Political interference, violence, or intimidation on Canadian soil

Motion M-112 was introduced by Dhaliwal and specifically addresses foreign interference in Canadian affairs. The motion calls for a comprehensive response to the increasing threats posed by foreign actors attempting to influence Canadian politics, security, and democratic processes.

More precisely, M-112 urges the Government of Canada to take stronger and more coordinated actions against foreign interference, including attempts to manipulate Canadian elections, discredit democratic institutions, or influence public opinion through covert means. The motion emphasizes the need for enhanced measures to safeguard Canada’s sovereignty, national security, and democratic integrity from external threats.

This was unanimously passed through the House of Commons on May 8, 2024.

2024 controversy

In August 2024, Dhaliwal sponsored a petition calling on the government to order a new inquiry into the Air India bombing, a terror act perpetrated by Sikh extremists, which killed 329 people, most of them Canadians. The petition promotes a discredited theory that the Indian government, as opposed to Canadian Sikhs, was responsible for the bombing. Two Canadian public inquires held Sikh extremists responsible for the act, and Talwinder Singh Parmar as the mastermind, in addition the CSIS and RCMP investigated the possibility of Indian government agents provoking the attack, but have since discarded the theory. Dhaliwal did not comment on whether he agreed or not with the petition's efforts or the conclusions reached by the two public inquires, stating: “This is their viewpoint, right — It’s a public viewpoint. All I’m doing is taking it forward.”

The petition was drafted by Gurpreet Singh, a freelance journalist based in Surrey. Singh told ''The Globe and Mail'' that Dhaliwal's staff helped him draft and edit the petition.

Electoral record

References

External links

Sukh Dhaliwal
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhaliwal, Sukh
1960 births
Businesspeople from British Columbia
Canadian engineers
Canadian Sikhs
Indian emigrants to Canada
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia
People from Ludhiana district
People from Surrey, British Columbia
Canadian people of Punjabi descent
21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada