Harjit Sajjan: Meet Canada's new 'badass' defence minister

Photos of Canada's new defence minister, Harjit Sajjan, a decorated lieutenant-colonel with the Canadian Armed Forces, were making the rounds on social media shortly after his swearing-in on Wednesday in Ottawa, with many highlighting his tough-guy image, reports CBC/Radio-Canada.

Several on Twitter and Reddit described him as a "badass."

Our new defense minister @HarjitSajjan looks badass pic.twitter.com/p2Bj6jORfD

— Scott Deveau (@scottdeveau) November 4, 2015

 

Military background

Sajjan, the newly elected Liberal MP for Vancouver South and member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet, grew up in his riding and later walked the streets of Vancouver as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department's gang crime unit.

He served for 11 years with the VPD, according to his biography.

According to Twitter Canada, the announcement that Sajjan would be joining the cabinet was the Liberal Party's most retweeted post of the day.

Sajjan is a combat veteran. He served one tour in Bosnia and was deployed three times to Afghanistan.

He was the first Sikh to command a Canadian army regiment — a reserve B.C. regiment known as the Duke of Connaught's Own.

Some compared his on-the-ground experience with the Canadian military to his predecessors.

He has also been awarded several military honours, including the Meritorious Service Medal in 2013 for reducing the Taliban's influence in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, and a Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal.

"He was the best single Canadian intelligence asset in theatre, and his hard work, personal bravery, and dogged determination undoubtedly saved a multitude of Coalition lives," said Brig.-Gen. David Fraser in a letter to the VPD.

"Through his courage and dedication, [then] Major Sajjan has singlehandedly changed the face of intelligence gathering and analysis in Afghanistan."

​Political controversy

Sajjan's entry into politics was not without controversy.

A large contingent of Sikh Liberals in B.C. quit the party last year, saying Trudeau was being "manipulated" by Sikhs under the banner of the World Sikh Organization, when the Liberals selected him as a star candidate over former Liberal MP Barj Dhahan.

Sajjan is the son of a veteran WSO board member, Kundan Sajjan, who led fundamentalist Sikhs in a losing battle with moderates over control of the Ross Street Temple in South Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Dhahan was a moderate ally of Ujjal Dosanjh, the previous Liberal MP.

The younger Sajjan denied he was a member of the WSO at the time.

Family man

Sajjan is also a family man. He is married to Dr. Kuljit Kaur Sajjan, a family doctor, and they have two young children.

According to his website, Sajjan and his wife have also sponsored four children, and support many charities that promote health and education for impoverished children.