1. Harjit Sajjan served as the minister of national defence from 2015 to 2021, minister of international development from 2021 to 2023, and minister of emergency preparedness and the president of the Privy Council from 2023 to 2025.
22 Facts About Harjit Sajjan
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In 2017, Harjit Sajjan apologized for exaggerating his role in Operation Medusa, a 2006 military operation in Afghanistan in which he was involved.
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In 2024, Harjit Sajjan came under criticism for prioritizing the evacuation of Sikhs with no links to Canada during the 2021 fall of Kabul, as well as for requesting troops to appear as backdrop to a pop concert by a Punjabi singer.
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Harjit Sajjan was born on September 6,1970, in Bombeli, a village in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, India.
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Harjit Sajjan's father, Kundan Singh Sajjan, was a head constable with the Punjab Police in India.
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Harjit Sajjan's father was a member of the board of the World Sikh Organization, which has been described as a radical Sikh group.
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Harjit Sajjan married Kuljit Kaur, a family physician in 1996, and they have a son and a daughter, Arjun and Jeevut.
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Harjit Sajjan joined The British Columbia Regiment in 1989 as a trooper and was commissioned as an officer in 1991.
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Harjit Sajjan was mentioned in dispatches for the usefulness of his tactical counterinsurgency knowledge in the planning and implementation of an unnamed operation in September 2006 to secure important terrain.
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Harjit Sajjan returned to Afghanistan for another tour of duty in 2009, taking another tour of leave from the Vancouver Police Department to do so.
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Harjit Sajjan was bestowed with the Meritorious Service Medal in 2012 for diluting the Taliban's influence in Kandahar Province.
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Harjit Sajjan was elected for the riding of Vancouver South during the 2015 federal election, defeating Conservative incumbent Wai Young.
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Harjit Sajjan was appointed minister of national defence in the federal Cabinet, headed by Justin Trudeau, on November 4,2015.
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Harjit Sajjan was briefly acting minister of veterans affairs in February 2019 following the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, until the appointment of Lawrence MacAulay to the portfolio.
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Harjit Sajjan's alleged links with the Khalistan movement have caused diplomatic friction with Punjab's former chief minister, Amarinder Singh.
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In September 2019, Harjit Sajjan attended an event that was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, for which he was criticized by the Conservatives.
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In July 2015, Harjit Sajjan had made the same claim during an episode of the BC program Conversations That Matter, stating that General Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff at the time the story broke in 2017, saw him as "the architect" in the 2006 offensive.
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Harjit Sajjan was censored by the House of Commons in 2021 for "misleading Canadians about his service record".
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Harjit Sajjan was moved from Minister of National Defence to minister of international development in an October 2021 cabinet reshuffle.
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In 2024, The Globe and Mail reported that, as Defense Minister, Harjit Sajjan instructed Canadian special forces to rescue about 225 Afghan Sikhs during the 2021 evacuation of Kabul.
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The donations coincided with Harjit Sajjan seeking reelection during the 2021 Canadian federal election.
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Harjit Sajjan's spokesman defended the request, saying that Dosanjh "is the biggest Punjabi artist in the world".