First from the Indian community to be the speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly is Raj Chouhan, an Punjab origin legislator in Canada, according to a media report. Chouhan, represented Burnaby-Edmonds constituency five times in the British Columbia legislature, and served as Deputy Speaker in the previous government. He will replace the retiring Darryl Plecas as Speaker, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News reported on Monday.

Punjab-born Chouhan moved to Canada in 1973 and started working on a farm. He was greatly disturbed by the plight of other immigrant workers and the wide  seen inequality between the rich and poor in a prosperous country. This stimulated to his ongoing advocacy for community and social justice for workers, the report said, citing Chouhan’s biography. “I am truly grateful to have been entrusted with this role by all members of the legislative assembly,” Chouhan was quoted as saying in the report.

“As a proud member of the Indo-Canadian community, I am tremendously proud of this historic occasion and honoured to continue my public service in this new role,” he added. His selection was the first order of business Monday as British Columbia politicians returned to the legislature for a brief session after the October election that gave the New Democratic Party (NDP) a majority government. Former NDP cabinet minister Moe Sihota called Chouhan’s selection as “a historic day for British Columbia.”

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