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Bardish Kaur Chagger is New Leader of The Canadian Government in The House of Commons
NEWS REPORT
History was made on Friday, August 19, 2016, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Canada’s Minister of Small Business and Tourism, Bardish Kaur Chagger, as the new Leader of the Canadian Government in the House of Commons.
She will also take over the work of steering democratic reforms through the Senate along with her cabinet colleague, Maryam Monsef, Minister of Democratic Institutions.
The 36-year-old Waterloo, Ontario, Member of Parliament will continue her role as Minister while taking on her new responsibilities as Government House Leader.
The Leader of the Canadian Government in the House of Commons, more commonly known as the 'Government House Leader', is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the Canadian House of Commons.
Seventy-two years of a male-dominated Parliamentary position have been extinguished, making Bardish Kaur Canada’s first woman to fill this position.
She succeeds Dominic LeBlanc who will now concentrate on his recent elevation as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. He is also expected to assume “additional responsibilities in the coming days.”
Bardish Kaur -- daughter of Sardar Gurminder Singh and Sardarni Govinder Kaur of Waterloo, Ontario -- follows in the footsteps of luminaries such as Allan MacEachen, Donald Macdonald, Mitchell Sharp, Ray Hnatyshyn, Don Mazankowski, Herb Gray, Don Boudria, and Ralph Goodale, each one of who shone in this role and moved on to greater heights in their respective careers.
August 20, 2016
Conversation about this article
1: Pardeep Singh Nagra (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), August 20, 2016, 11:10 AM.
A good person makes a great politician! Well deserved and a proud moment for all Canadians to see a female host this post. Kudos to this young lady who continues to inspire. Wishing her the best of luck.
2: Tony Singh (Canada), August 20, 2016, 7:52 PM.
Another great achievement by our community. PM Trudeau and his top advisor, Gerald Butts, deserve our full support for the powerful roles they have entrusted Sikh Liberal MPs with. Although, I am sure that each appointment was based on the great contributions of each such MP to the Liberal Party and not just given away as they are prestigious and highly sought posts by all MPs in the governing party. Our community must not rest on its laurels and must be politically vigilant as the Indian establishment views these accomplishments with great aprehension as Sikhs are playing a prominent role in Canada's government.
3: Hardev Singh (Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada), August 21, 2016, 11:26 AM.
Free, Democratic and respectful of Minorities. Compared to Canada, India fails miserably.
4: GC Singh (USA), August 21, 2016, 10:25 PM.
While "Free" Sikhs of the diaspora celebrate the achievement of our brothers and sisters, the Indian agencies will be getting very jealous and nervous. Expect them to advance the schedule of the next script of another "C" grade Bollywood plot, concocted to defame and destabilize Sikh-Canadians.
5: Arjan Singh (USA), August 22, 2016, 12:19 PM.
#3 Tony ji: Your opinion is aptly expressed, although you are being too polite. Bardish Kaur represents not a single community but all the men and women in Canada. Even the white majority women in US and Canada continue to face consistent discrimination in society (at home and at work). Therefore heartiest congratulations to her for devoting her time and energy to public service. She will be a role model for all the marginalized communities around the world. We as Sikhs must uphold the values of Sikhi and our women express all their talents at home and at work, without any restrictions. The Indian (mainly Hindu) establishment is visibly irritated with the accomplishments of the Sikhs in Canada and other countries outside India. I can assure you that they are already cooking a poisonous potion in their cauldrons of hatred (doing havans) to create mischief so as to stop the Sikh community's progress around the world. We not only need to keep moving in the right direction, but we must also fight the propaganda attacks by this establishment that intends to falsely malign the Sikh image. You will surely see more concocted reports against the Sikh community in the Indian media outlets in the near future.
6: Pal Singh Gill (Chesapeake, Virginia, USA), August 22, 2016, 8:56 PM.
Sikh communities all over the World are looking at the Canadian political and democratic developments that are citizen-based. We are uniquely placed to show what our Gurus have taught us. Let us measure amply to those teachings in our daily lives and maintain a higher standard of ethics in the true sense of the word. On that, all of us must be aware of the responsibility on our shoulders. Thank you, Prime Minister Trudeau, for the opportunities given to our Sikh-Canadian men and women; you will not be disappointed.
7: Kulvinder Jit Kaur (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada), August 24, 2016, 1:07 AM.
Congratulations, Bardish. You make us all proud, as women, as Canadians and as Sikhs. I totally agree with #3, #4 and #5 about being vigilant of those that are our adversaries. They are well equipped with the means to harm and defame us. We have to pass the word around to Sikhs around the world that each one is (or should be) working as a vigilance officer for our Sikh quom. Which brings me to the next question. Whatever happened to our International Committee that was going to be our "go to" establishment (lobby) in case we had to report something.
8: Santa Singh (New Zealand), August 31, 2016, 3:24 AM.
Congratulations, Bardish ji. We are proud of you!