List of Asian-Canadian First Ministers

A total of three men have served, or are serving, as the first minister of a Canadian government. Of these, all three were premiers of a province. Asian-Canadians have been eligible to become premier since they first gained the right to vote, beginning in 1947. Asian-Canadians soon began to be appointed to cabinet positions, starting with Hedy Fry and Herb Dhaliwal federally in 1997. An Asian-Canadian served as Premier prior to this, beginning with Joe Ghiz in 1986, in Prince Edward Island. Today, two Canadian jurisdictions have had at least one Asian-Canadian Premier; British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. The longest-serving Asian-Canadian premier is Joe Ghiz, who served as Premier between 1986 and 1993.

One of the three Asian-Canadian premiers earned their position through a party leadership race within their Political Party while it was in Government. The other two won the title by defeating an incumbent premier in a general election. No two Asian-Canadian premiers served concurrently, with each serving at different times between 1986 and currently. As of June 2013, there is one incumbent Asian-Canadian first minister in Canada, Robert Ghiz (31st Premier of Prince Edward Island). The tenure of incumbent is accurate as of 30 April 2015.

Currently, there are four Asian-Canadians serving as leaders of major political parties with seats in legislatures. Robert Ghiz, who is Premier in Prince Edward Island and Leader of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party, Raj Sherman, who is the Leader of the Liberal Party in the province of Alberta, Lorraine Michael, who is the leader of the NDP in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Rana Bokhari, who is the leader of the Liberals in Manitoba. Sherman's Liberals currently hold six seats in the legislature, and are the third party, behind the Conservatives and Wildrose Alliance. Michael's NDP are also in third place, behind the Conservatives and Liberals in the Newfoundland legislature. Bokhari has not yet contested an election, but takes over the reins with the party in third with one seat.

The most prominent Asian-Canadian First Minister is Ujjal Dosanjh, who served as the Federal Minister of Health, one of three Asian-Canadian Cabinet ministers in the Martin Ministry.

Asian Canadian First Ministers

Premiers

3 Asian-Canadian men have served as Premiers of a Canadian province. Two, Joe and Robert Ghiz, are of Lebanese descent, while one, Ujjal Dosanjh, is of East Indian descent.

	Image	Premier	Province	Took office	Left office	Duration	Mandates	Party
		Ghiz, JoeJoe Ghiz (1945–1996)[1]	Prince Edward Island	01986-05-02-00002 May 1986	01993-01-25-000025 January 1993	6 years, 268 days	1986 Election 1989 Election	Liberal
		Dosanjh, UjjalUjjal Dosanjh (1947–present)[2]	British Columbia	02000-02-24-000024 February 2000	02001-06-05-00005 June 2001	1 year, 101 days	2000 Designation	NDP
		Ghiz, RobertRobert Ghiz (1974–present)[3]	Prince Edward Island	02007-06-12-000012 June 2007	Incumbent	7008248724000000000♠7 years, 322 days	2007 Election 2011 Election	Liberal

In Opposition

The following Asian-Canadians currently or formerly were leaders of major political parties in federal or provincial legislatures which have had seats in their respective houses. This list does not include the Premiers listed in the above chart. Of the three men and two women who served as leaders of major parties, three, Pannu, Sherman and Bokhari, are of East Indian descent, while Lorraine Michael is of Lebanese ancestry and Amir Khadir is of Iranian descent.

	Image	Leader	Province	Took office	Left office	Duration	Party
		Pannu, RajRaj Pannu (1934–present)	Alberta	02000-02-08-00008 February 2000	02004-07-13-000013 July 2004	4 years, 155 days	NDP
		Khadir, AmirAmir Khadir (1961–present)	Quebec	02006-02-04-00004 February 2006	02012-11-04-00004 November 2012	6 years, 273 days	Quebec Solidaire
		Michael, LorraineLorraine Michael (1943–present)	Newfoundland and Labrador	02006-05-28-000028 May 2006	Incumbent	7008281577600000000♠8 years, 337 days	NDP
		Sherman, RajRaj Sherman (1966–present)	Alberta	02011-09-10-000010 September 2011	Incumbent	7008146275200000000♠4 years, 232 days	Liberal
		Bokhari, RanaRana Bokhari (1977–present)	Manitoba	02013-10-26-000026 October 2013	Incumbent	7007476280000000000♠1 years, 186 days	Liberal

See also

• List of current Canadian first ministers
• List of female first ministers in Canada
• List of Visible Minority Canadian Cabinet Ministers

References