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Moe Sihota could lose cabinet post

R S Shankar

Moe Sihota, who in 1986 became the first Indo-Canadian to be elected to a Canadian legislature and the first Indo-Canadian appointed to a cabinet, has held a number of portfolios including labor and multiculturalism.

But the charismatic and outspoken cabinet minister, who is currently in charge of social development and economic security, could be jobless by early next week. That is when the newly elected premier, Ujjal Dosanjh, will announce his cabinet.

Sihota backed Gordon Wilson, the education minister against Dosanjh. Wilson dropped out of the New Democratic Party leadership race the last minute and endorsed Agriculture Minister Corky Evans.

Though Dosanjh had half a dozen people opposing him when the leadership campaign began in August following the resignation of then premier Glen Clark, none hit him as stridently as Wilson. Political insiders say much of Wilson's rhetoric was inspired by Sihota's bitterness against Dosanjh.

Beholden to conservative and radical Sikhs, Sihota has opposed Dosanjh's political aspirations for a long time. Sihota was one of the strongest critics of the mass membership drive launched in the Indian Canadian community by Dosanjh's supporters. Though Sihota also directed mass enrollment in the Indian Canadian community on Wilson's behalf, he escaped much criticism.

But many of Dosanjh's new members were found to be bogus and were dropped from the delegates's list. Wilson had threatened to make the membership drive a big issue at the convention, but NDP leaders would not allow him.

"Dosanjh has said he wants to reconcile different wings of the NDP," said a party leader who asked for anonymity. "But the fight between the two Sikhs is far more complex."

Sihota and Dosanjh are both clean-shaven. But Dosanjh is hated by the Khalistanis because he has consistently opposed them for over 16 years. The crowbar attack on him by a Khalistani in 1985 made Dosanjh even a bigger critic of the separatists.

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