“I’m excited that Raj has taken a leadership role in my campaign,” said Andrew Scheer, former Speaker of the House under the Conservative government and one who is seen as a front-runner with good Conservative Caucus support. “I look forward to working with him to deepen my connection to BC’s vibrant and important South Asian community.”
By R. Paul Dhillon
VANCOUVER – Well known Indo-Canadian political mover-shaker Raj Bhela has taken on the role as the coordinator for the South Asian community in BC for Andrew Scheer’s leadership campaign.
Scheer, a former Speaker of the House under the Conservative government, is seen as a front-runner for the party leadership with good Conservative Caucus support.
Bhela, who has been integrally involved with the moderate Sikh camp at the Ross Street Gurdwaras as well as being an integral figure in organizing in the South Asian community for political heavyweights like BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark, is a well-respected leader in the Sikh/South Asian community.
Bhela served as a General Secretary for the largest Pioneer Society in North America, Khalsa Diwan Society, for 8 years. During his terms as General Secretary, he established contacts throughout Canada, in particular, BC.
Bhela brings a wealth of political leadership to the Scheer campaign. He was instrumental in electing Christy Clark as a leader of BC Liberal party.
During the last federal election, he worked with Jason Kenney in BC. He keptKenney busy (up to 15 meetings a day most of the time) and will do the same for Andrew.
“I’m excited that Raj has taken a leadership role in my campaign,” said Scheer. “I look forward to working with him to deepen my connection to BC’s vibrant and important South Asian community.”
Bhela told the LINK that he decided to support Scheer after his friend Jason Kenney decided not to run and he believes the former House Speaker has a good chance of winning the leadership.
“Andrew is a great guy, very competent and he was a very good House Speaker and he is very clean so that is the reason I decided to support him, ” Bhela said.
