According to LINK sources, Lt.-Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan will be a shoe-in if an actual nomination fight was to ensue but he will most likely will be acclaimed. “If Lt.-Col. Sajjan wants to be a federal Liberal candidate in the next election and be part of Justin Trudeau’s team, which I know he wants, then he will be our party’s candidate,” a federal Liberal insider told the LINK. “There is no question of a nomination fight with anyone as our leader has already stated that if we want good candidates then we have to treat them like star candidates and give them all the tools for the real election fight and not have these time and energy consuming fights within the party.
By R. Paul Dhillon
OTTAWA — Lt.-Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan is expected to be introduced as a candidate for the Vancouver South federal Liberal riding by leader Justin Trudeau, who had showcased the current commander of the reserve B.C. Regiment (Duke of Connaught’s Own) at the recent Liberal convention in Montreal.
While the son of the former member of the World Sikh Organization (WSO) Kundan Singh Sajjan, who has also delved in Vancouver Sikh temple politics, is expected to face competition from businessman Barj Dhahan for the nomination, the community is rooting for anyone but Ujjal Dosanjh, who isn’t expected to come back after losing to the current Vancouver South Conservative MP Wai Young in the last election.
Sajjan, an Afghanistan war hero who is the first Sikh to command a Canadian Army regiment and who was portrayed as a role model in Ottawa’s latest Welcome to Canada booklet for immigrants, has the backing of prominent federal Sikh Liberal power broker Prem Vinning, who had told the LINK during a recent catering company unveiling that he will soon be introducing a real star candidate that all the communities in Canada would be proud of.
Vancouver Sun’s Ottawa correspondent Peter O’Neil reported Friday that the Canadian military has strict rules against overt political activities that raise questions about the military’s impartiality, though reservists like Sajjan have far more latitude than soldiers in the regular force.
If Sajjan seeks to become a candidate in the scheduled 2015 election, he will need permission from his superiors, according to the National Defence Department, the Sun reported.
Sajjan is also a former Vancouver police officer, decorated after serving once in Bosnia and three times in Afghanistan. But despite O’Neil’s assertion that the military man is in a tough nomination fight against Dhahan – the assertion couldn’t be so farfetched.
In fact, Sajjan will be a shoe-in if an actual nomination fight was to ensue but he will most likely will be acclaimed, according to LINK sources.
“If Lt.-Col. Sajjan wants to be a federal Liberal candidate in the next election and be part of Justin Trudeau’s team, which I know he wants, then he will be our party’s candidate,” a federal Liberal insider told the LINK.
“There is no question of a nomination fight with anyone as our leader has already stated that if we want good candidates then we have to treat them like star candidates and give them all the tools for the real election fight and not have these time and energy consuming fights within the party.
“We have to defeat the Conservatives in the next election and we are going to do with concentrating all our energies and resources on that and not nomination fights where we have excellent candidate and a high probability of capturing the seat, like in Vancouver South,” he added.
Sajjan’s nomination also puts water on the hopes of another turbaned Sikh Randeep Singh Sarai, who had been rumoured to be seeking a nomination in the same riding but his sketchy past of being suspended by the Law Society was always going to be a red-herring for the party.
