List of Asian-Canadian first ministers

Three men have served, or are serving, as the first minister of a Canadian government. Of these, all three were premiers of a province. Asian-Canadians have been eligible to become premier since they first gained the right to vote, beginning in 1947. Asian-Canadians have been appointed to cabinet positions, starting with Hedy Fry and Herb Dhaliwal federally in 1997. An Asian-Canadian served as Premier prior to this, beginning with Joe Ghiz in 1986, in Prince Edward Island. Today, two Canadian jurisdictions have had at least one Asian-Canadian Premier: British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. The longest-serving Asian-Canadian premier is Joe Ghiz, who served as Premier between 1986 and 1993.

One of the three Asian-Canadian premiers earned their position through a party leadership race within their political party while it was in government. The other two won the title by defeating an incumbent premier in a general election. No two Asian-Canadian premiers served concurrently, with each serving at different times between 1986 and currently.

One Asian-Canadian is serving as a leader of major political party with seats in legislatures, Rana Bokhari, who is the leader of the Liberals in Manitoba. Bokhari's Liberals hold three seats in the legislature, and are the third party, although Bokhari does not hold a seat herself..

The most prominent Asian-Canadian First Minister is Ujjal Dosanjh, who served as the federal Minister of Health, one of three Asian-Canadian Cabinet ministers in the Martin Ministry.

Asian Canadian First Ministers

Premiers

Three Asian-Canadian men have served as Premiers of a Canadian province. Two, Joe and Robert Ghiz, are of Lebanese descent, while one, Ujjal Dosanjh, is of East Indian descent.

	Image	Premier	Province	Took office	Left office	Duration	Mandates	Party
		Ghiz, JoeJoe Ghiz (1945–1996)[1]	Prince Edward Island	2 May 1986	25 January 1993	6 years, 268 days	1986 Election 1989 Election	Liberal
		Dosanjh, UjjalUjjal Dosanjh (1947–present)[2]	British Columbia	24 February 2000	5 June 2001	1 year, 101 days	2000 Designation	NDP
		Ghiz, RobertRobert Ghiz (1974–present)[3]	Prince Edward Island	12 June 2007	23 February 2015	8 years, 324 days	2007 Election 2011 Election	Liberal

In Opposition

The following Asian-Canadians have been or are leaders of major political parties in federal or provincial legislatures which have had seats in their respective houses. This list does not include the Premiers listed in the above chart. Of the three men and two women who served as leaders of major parties, three, Pannu, Sherman and Bokhari, are of East Indian descent, while Lorraine Michael is of Lebanese ancestry and Amir Khadir is of Iranian descent.

	Image	Leader	Province	Took office	Left office	Duration	Party
		Pannu, RajRaj Pannu (1934–present)	Alberta	8 February 2000	13 July 2004	4 years, 155 days	NDP
		Khadir, AmirAmir Khadir (1961–present)	Quebec	4 February 2006	4 November 2012	6 years, 273 days	Quebec Solidaire
		Michael, LorraineLorraine Michael (1943–present)	Newfoundland and Labrador	28 May 2006	7 March 2015	9 years, 339 days	NDP
		Sherman, RajRaj Sherman (1966–present)	Alberta	10 September 2011	26 January 2015	5 years, 234 days	Liberal
		Bokhari, RanaRana Bokhari (1977–present)	Manitoba	26 October 2013	Incumbent	2 years, 188 days	Liberal
		Marcelino, FlorFlor Marcelino (1977–present)	Manitoba	30 April 2016	Incumbent	1 day	NDP

See also

• List of current Canadian first ministers
• List of female first ministers in Canada
• List of Visible Minority Canadian Cabinet Ministers
• List of visible minority politicians in Canada

References

1. "Premiers Gallery: Ghiz, Joe". Biographical Directory of Prince Edward Island. Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
2. "Premiers of British Columbia". Art & History Home. Government of BC, The British Columbian Government. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
3. "Robert Ghiz". Government of PEI. Prince Edward Island Government, Canadian Government. Retrieved June 25, 2013.