Ujjal
Dosanjh
He was born in 1947 in Dosanjh Kalan village of Jalandhar
District in Punjab and grew up hearing stories from
his grandfather about Kamagatu Maru, the gurdwara
reform movement and about Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru.—
emigrating to England at the age of 17 — and
came to Canada four years later. Dosanjh has a B.A.
in political science from Simon Fraser University,
and a law degree from UBC. Along the way, he was a
millworker and the assistant editor of a Punjabi newspaper.
He also taught English as a Second Language to new
Canadians at Vancouver Community College. He established
his own law practice in Vancouver in 1979. He has
a long track record as a human rights activist —
setting up the first farmworkers' legal information
service in 1977. He's also been involved in South
Vancouver Neighbourhood House, MOSAIC, the B.C. Multicultural
Society and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
After he spoke out against Sikh extremism and violence
in 1985, he was attacked and beaten with an iron bar
in the parking lot outside his law office.His injuries
were serious — requiring 80 stitches. After running
and losing in the 1979 and 1983 elections.
* Elected the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kensington in
1991.
* He was elected Attorney General of B.C. and Minister
Responsible for Multiculturalism,
Human Rights, and Immigration. He
is married with three sons
* Ujjal Dosanjh, an Indo-Canadian, became the premier
of British Columbia on 21st February,
2000.
* In March 2002, and after a much needed rest and
reading break, he returned to the active practice
of law at Dosanjh Woolley. Mr. Dosanjh continues to
maintain an interest in criminal, civil, family and
personal injury law. With his broad knowledge of law
and government, Mr. Dosanjh is able to advise clients
on a vast array of difficult legal matters.
