26 Facts About Moe Sihota

Munmohan Singh "Moe" Sihota was born on February 18,1955 and is a former Canadian broadcaster and politician.

Moe Sihota was the first Canadian of South Asian and Indian descent to be elected to provincial parliament.

Moe Sihota was born in Duncan, British Columbia and attended St George's Boys School, Vancouver, on scholarship.

Moe Sihota earned a bachelor's degree in social work from the University of British Columbia in 1977, was awarded a scholarship to Warwick School of Economics in 1981, and earned a law degree from the University of Victoria in 1982.

Moe Sihota was a social worker in White Rock from 1978 to 1979 and a lawyer in Esquimalt in 1984.

In 1984, Sihota was elected as an alderman for Esquimalt.

In 1986, Moe Sihota ran as the NDP Candidate in the riding of Esquimalt-Port Renfrew to replace the retiring Mitchell.

Moe Sihota held the seat easily and became the first Indo-Canadian to be elected to any federal or provincial riding.

In 1991, Moe Sihota ran for and won re-election in the new riding of Esquimalt-Metchosin as part of an NDP landslide victory.

Moe Sihota continued to serve in several cabinet posts under the Harcourt New Democratic government as well as under the subsequent governments of Glen Clark and Dan Miller, but was forced to resign from cabinet several times.

Moe Sihota served on the board of directors of BC Hydro and Power Authority, the Insurance Corporation of BC, the Workers Compensation Board, and the BC Buildings Corporation.

Moe Sihota resigned as Minister of Labour in 1995 after the Law Society of BC suspended his licence to practice for 18 months, due to finding him guilty of professional misconduct.

In 1991, Moe Sihota helped his friend Dhaliwal become appointed to the board of BC Hydro in 1991, after Dhaliwal provided Moe Sihota with a substantial mortgage guarantee.

Hughes later found that Moe Sihota had not been in a conflict of interest.

However, Hughes said at the time of the finding that had the new laws been in place during Dhaliwal's appointment in 1991, Moe Sihota would have been found to be in a conflict of interest.

Moe Sihota left the station in 2004 when his phone-in show, VILand Voices, was cancelled due to re-organization.

Moe Sihota currently provides political commentary for CBC Radio's Early Edition Political Panel.

Since 2004, Moe Sihota has pursued several business opportunities and is currently a part-owner and director of the Northern Bear Golf Club, Four Points Sheraton and Walton's Lakefront Resort.

In 2012, Moe Sihota received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canadian Society.

Mr Moe Sihota was the recipient of the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of being the first Indo-Canadian elected to a Canadian Legislature and the first Indo-Canadian ever to be appointed to a cabinet.

Moe Sihota received the 2015 Pioneers and Navigators Award for his work in Politics and Public Policy.

In November 2009, Moe Sihota was elected to the position of president of the BC New Democratic Party.

In October 2010, the media revealed that Moe Sihota was being paid a salary for his position as president, with payments from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, United Steelworkers, and the British Columbia Federation of Labour.

Moe Sihota was elected to a second term at the 2011 party convention.

On September 21,2013, the day after Dix announced his intention to step down as leader, Moe Sihota announced that he would be stepping down as party president at the end of his term in November 2013.

Moe Sihota was credited with modernizing the NDP's fundraising capacity and implementing outreach to the business community during his term.