If only we could get one genuine leader in there...
There's no shortage of "Sikhs" in provincial and federal politics these days, yet all of them seem so completely unimpressive.
In the provincial legislature I think there's seven "Sikhs". There were two ministers up until this past spring I think, one resigned to run in the federal election (he was later replaced by another Sikh (NDP) in the by-election), and another one had health issues and had to leave cabinet. (I think? She might've been reinstated by now.)
Maybe its just because I have an inferiority complex in regards to my own community, but I can't think of a single, impressive, genuinely capable person out of all seven.
This is sad but the most capable Sikh MLAs were probably from the days of the NDP administration. And I'm not referring to Ujjal - he was a joke.. someone who completely sacrificed his party's electoral fortunes, just for his own ego (wanting to go back to India as premier in order to receive a hero's welcome).
I'm referring to Moe (Manmohan) Sihota. Sure, he wasn't perfect, and he was even scandalous himself, oh and he was an NDPer too... but at least he seemed like he had a sound grasp of policy, and even politics. He knew how to work the media and I'm pretty sure that he acted as a voice of moderation in a cabinet that was probably filled with socialist ideologues.
Why can't we have a more right wing version of him? Its one thing to go into politics for the sake of politics, but its probably important to know what you're doing while you're there. Moe knew how how to get things done. I guess its good for the (Sikh) community to have representatives in parliament and in the provincial legislature, but its even more important to make sure that those representatives are capable and that they aren't an embarrassment to the community.
In the provincial legislature I think there's seven "Sikhs". There were two ministers up until this past spring I think, one resigned to run in the federal election (he was later replaced by another Sikh (NDP) in the by-election), and another one had health issues and had to leave cabinet. (I think? She might've been reinstated by now.)
Maybe its just because I have an inferiority complex in regards to my own community, but I can't think of a single, impressive, genuinely capable person out of all seven.
This is sad but the most capable Sikh MLAs were probably from the days of the NDP administration. And I'm not referring to Ujjal - he was a joke.. someone who completely sacrificed his party's electoral fortunes, just for his own ego (wanting to go back to India as premier in order to receive a hero's welcome).
I'm referring to Moe (Manmohan) Sihota. Sure, he wasn't perfect, and he was even scandalous himself, oh and he was an NDPer too... but at least he seemed like he had a sound grasp of policy, and even politics. He knew how to work the media and I'm pretty sure that he acted as a voice of moderation in a cabinet that was probably filled with socialist ideologues.
Why can't we have a more right wing version of him? Its one thing to go into politics for the sake of politics, but its probably important to know what you're doing while you're there. Moe knew how how to get things done. I guess its good for the (Sikh) community to have representatives in parliament and in the provincial legislature, but its even more important to make sure that those representatives are capable and that they aren't an embarrassment to the community.
posted by Japnaam Singh at
12:09 AM
3 Comments:
Hey, you've had *cough* Ujjal Dosanjh *cough*.
Yes, and I mentioned that he was a total disgrace.
And he's an embarrassment as health minister as well, but we'll get to that another time.
I don't think this is specific to Sikhs. Name any race or religion and you find the most capable conservative people just don't go into politics, especially in Canada where being conservative is such a thankless task. Just look at the abuse that has been hurled at guys like Mike Harris and you understand most conservatives just find it preferable to do other things in life. I'm sure prominent Sikhs look at it exactly the same way.
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