# Gulzar Singh Cheema

Gulzar Singh Cheema (born August 11, 1954) is an Indian-born Canadian physician and politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1988 to 1993, and a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2004, making him one of only a few Canadian politicians to have sat in two provincial legislatures since Confederation. He is the first Indian-born provincial legislator in Canada. He was also a cabinet minister in the government of Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell from 2001 to 2004, and was a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the federal election of 2004.

## Background

The son of Ajinder Singh Cheema and Ajit Kaur Aulakh, he grew up in Gurdaspur district in Punjab, India. He received a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from Punjab University in 1977, then worked as a clinical instructor. He moved to Canada in 1979, and married Harinder Claire the same year; they have two children together. Following his internship at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and residency at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital, he moved to Winnipeg where he practised as a family physician from 1984 to 1993.

## Political career
### Manitoba politics

In the Manitoba general election of 1988, Cheema was elected as a Liberal in the Winnipeg riding of Kildonan. The Liberals went from one to twenty seats in the Manitoba legislature in this election, winning several Winnipeg seats from the governing New Democratic Party (NDP). Cheema defeated Progressive Conservative candidate John Baluta by 585 votes, with NDP incumbent Marty Dolin finishing third. The Progressive Conservatives came out of the election with a minority government, and Cheema became a member of the official opposition. Cheema increased his margin of victory in the 1990 provincial election when he ran in the new riding of The Maples, but the Liberal Party fell to seven seats and third-party status. During his time in the Manitoba assembly, he served as critic for health, labour, housing, native affairs, sport and co-operatives, and consumer and corporate affairs. He resigned his seat on June 17, 1993.

### British Columbia politics

Soon afterwards, Cheema opened a family practice in Surrey, British Columbia. He became involved in several community activities in British Columbia, including acting as chair of the 1998 British Columbia Games for Athletes with Disabilities' medical section. He also made regular appearances on local multicultural radio talk shows and television station OMNI BC (previously Channel M) to educate the Indo-Canadian community on health and disease prevention.
In the 1996 provincial election, Cheema ran as a BC Liberal in the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, but lost to BC NDP candidate Ian Waddell by 380 votes.
The BC NDP experienced a sharp decline in popularity in the following years, and the provincial Liberals were elected in a landslide in the 2001 provincial election. This time Cheema ran in Surrey-Panorama Ridge, where he defeated NDP candidate Bruce Ralston by over 6,000 votes to become the riding's member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). He was appointed to the cabinet that June by Premier Gordon Campbell to serve as Minister of State for Mental Health, before being re-assigned in January 2004 as Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services.

### Federal politics

Later in 2004, Cheema sought and won the federal Liberal nomination in the new riding of Fleetwood—Port Kells. His cabinet appointment was rescinded on March 8, 2004, and he subsequently resigned as MLA that May. At the June 2004 federal election, Cheema was defeated by Conservative candidate Nina Grewal, 14,052 votes to 11,568 (New Democratic Party candidate Barry Bell received 10,976 votes).

### Return to BC politics

In the 2020 provincial election, Cheema was the BC Liberal candidate in Surrey-Panorama, a reconfigured version of his old riding. He was defeated by incumbent NDP member Jinny Sims.

## Honours

Cheema was awarded the Canada 125 Medal in 1992 for community service. In 2021, a new street in northwest Winnipeg was named Cheema Drive in his honour.

## Election results

vte1988 Manitoba general election: Kildonan :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Gulzar Singh Cheema | 5,653 | 35.69 | 26.24 |
| | Progressive Conservative | John Baluta | 5,068 | 31.99 | -3.08 |
| | New Democratic | Marty Dolin | 4,542 | 28.67 | -22.98 |
| | Progressive | Sidney Green | 445 | 2.81 | -1.02 |
| | Western Independence | Tracy Fuhr | 133 | 0.84 | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 15,841 | – | – |
| Rejected | Rejected | Rejected | 56 | – |
| Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | Eligible voters / turnout | 20,785 | 76.48 | 13.01 |
| | Liberal gain from New Democratic | Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | Swing | +24.61 |
| Source(s) Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Statement of Votes for the 37th Provincial General Election, September 21, 1999 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba. |||||||
1990 Manitoba general election: The Maples :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Gulzar Singh Cheema | 3,273 | 39.83 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Norman Isler | 2,684 | 32.66 |
| | New Democratic | Tony Valeri | 2,260 | 27.50 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8,217 | 100.00 | - |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 36 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,253 | 67.00 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 12,318 |
| Source: Elections Manitoba |||||||
vte2004 Canadian federal election: Fleetwood—Port Kells :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Conservative | Nina Grewal | 14,052 | 35.8 | – | $67,710 |
| | Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 11,568 | 29.5 | – | $69,483 |
| | New Democratic | Barry Bell | 10,976 | 28.0 | – | $7,669 |
| | Green | David Walters | 2,484 | 6.3 | – | |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Joseph Theriault | 167 | 0.4 | – | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 39,247 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 218 | 0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,465 | 59 |
vte2020 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Panorama :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 12,336 | 55.07 | +4.22 | $60,769.34 |
| | Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 9,607 | 42.89 | +1.03 | $65,963.02 |
| | Vision | Sophie Shrestha | 458 | 2.04 | – | $0.00 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 22,401 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 240 | 1.06 | +0.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,641 | 51.65 | −9.39 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 43,835 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | +1.60 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||