From a shy lad growing up in Punjab, to a teenager in London who finally made Vancouver his home, Ujjal Singh Dosanjh has walked a road not taken by too many Indo-Canadians. A successful stint as an attorney, Attorney General and then the first non white Indo-Canadian Premier of British Columbia, Dosanjh came out of semi retirement to join the Liberal party, much to the disbelief of his peers, but he took the stance that his ideologies were more in sync with those of the current Prime Minister. Dosanjh who now holds the key post of Health minister in the current Government, shares memories of a life always influenced by the politics of the times, and lessons his father and grandfather taught him, in this exclusive.
“I grew up in a village in Punjab, and in spite of the deep religious and spiritual affinity you feel as an individual, most villages were very secular places due to the inter personal relationships. Religion becomes more accentuated when you come abroad because there is nothing else to anchor you.”
Dosanjh says he lived his early years with his grandfather who was a freedom fighter and spending time with him, meeting the political giants of the times had a huge impact on him. “To this day all my early memories are of incidents related to politics and are deeply etched in my mind. I do not remember much else. Whether at the national or international level, the politicians of those times were genuine, of much higher stature morally, intellectually and spiritually.” Dosanjh remembers growing up with the issue of untouchables swirling around him and the equal status accorded to those who worked on his family property because his father was a staunch Gandhian.
His father first wanted him to study medicine, but then felt he didn’t want his son to have the hectic life style of a doctor, so he asked him to study non medical sciences, but Dosanjh recalls that even at that time his interests lay else where. “My passion in those days was reading newspapers, and I didn’t want to take non medical science courses that my father suggested I take.” Not wanting to offend his father and still wanting to do as he felt compelled to, Dosanjh laughingly recalls that he deviously decided to go abroad to study and switch gears there.
At 17 as he left for London for further studies, he recalls turning back from the tarmac prior to boarding his flight and going back to say one final good bye to his father. His father said to him, “If you want to cut your hair,do so-because when in Rome do as the Romans do-if you want to have an occasional drink that is fine too-but if I EVER catch you smoking I will kill you!” says Dosanjh laughingly “ It was amazing how progressive and far ahead of his times he was. I know that had I stayed on in the village there is no way he would have let me cut my hair, but he knew perhaps that the transition would be tough and wanted to give me his blessings to do what I felt comfortable with, if need be, in order to assimilate.”
Dosanjh arrived in England and started working to earn some money and attended night school at the same time. “ At seventeen, I certainly did not fully understand the complexities of history and the consequences of the British rule in India, but I realized nevertheless that England was not the place I really felt at home. In the 2 ½ years that I was there, I didn’t find it a very welcoming place, and always felt at odds with the society. There was a significant community but it had not made as much progress then.”
One day dejected, while working as an assistant editor, whose job was also to collect newspapers from the press, Dosanjh walked past the Canadian High Commission, went in on a whim and began talking to people there. He was told he was welcome to migrate to Canada and he did. He arrived at Vancouver which has been his home for more than 3 decades now and found it to be far more beautiful than he envisioned, and for him, it became the home away from home.
Then began the grind of working and going to night school and his subsequent success story in law and public office. Today as he looks back at his journey he is gratified to see the decline in racial discrimination, and acceptance of a South Asian Sikh Canadian into the high ranks of public office. “ I think when you go far away from home, you realize that people are generally very kind every where and Vancouver has had a history of significant Sikh presence, so the south Asian Canadians don’t feel they are an immigrant community but believe they have as much right as any one else to pursue anything they want.” He also feels the more moderate one is, the more welcome he or she is in Canada.
Dosanjh says the reason why more South Asians are in politics in Canada today as compared to in the US, stems from the fact that the Canadian political system is more akin to the Indian political system. It is much more easily understood than the one in the US, and requires far less finance and higher connections for one to join the fray.
As Health Minister Dosanjh has his work cut out for him because the Ministry of Health has recently come under a lot of flak from the public hoping for better standards in health care. Dosanjh says he wants to focus on several key issues, facing the health care system, from reducing the waiting time for citizens wanting health care, ensuring medication and treatment are available on time every where, and .retraining the multitude of health care professionals from other countries who are out driving cabs and doing odd jobs because they are not qualified to work in the Canadian health care system that is currently facing a strong paucity of doctors and nurses. “ We have put aside 75 million dollars over a 5-year period for this purpose.”
Dosanjh who has been known for his progressive values says he believes in being true to himself and doing what he perceives to be the right thing. “I have never really set goals or targets. I have taken a position that I believed in and not worried about the consequences. I came out of semi retirement to join the Liberal party when it was at the lowest point in terms of popularity, because I felt that the alternative offered by the Conservative party which is very right wing was very dangerous for women, minorities, gays and lesbians. I saw the party statements and felt that I did not want to see a Prime Minister who may take Canada in a direction, where I may not recognize the Canada I am used to. In 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination I spoke out and again after choosing to go with the Liberal party I saw some of my friends and colleagues shunning me or not understanding my decisions, but my father and grandfather gave me the best piece of advice- “ Be true to yourself and do your best and let the chips fall as they may.”
When asked to address readers of South Asian Outlook, Dosanjh says, “I don’t believe in preaching, but I believe from my heart that wherever you live, you have the obligation to make a contribution to better your neighborhood, your city and your country, and while public service and politics are not the only way to do that, it is very important to stay politically involved because it is a very significant way to make an impact and change things for the better, when faced with challenging issues.”