"I have come to the difficult decision…that my seeking to lead the Liberal Party of B.C. at this time in my life is just not a fit. Anyone seeking to champion the forces of free enterprise centered in the BC Liberals as their Leader has to be prepared to invest two, four and maybe even eight to 10 years," said former federal Liberal MP and businessman Herb Dhaliwal.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada

RICHMOND – Former federal Liberal MP and businessman Herb Dhaliwal has decided against seeking the BC Liberal leadership after DESIBUZZCanada broke the story that the former federal minister in the Jean Chretien governments was considering throwing his hat in the leadership ring which is currently underway with 6 candidates.

In a press release Friday, Dhaliwal, former MP from Vancouver-South, said  he will not seek the provincial Leadership of the BC Liberals.

Dhaliwal, the first ever South Asian Sikh to be appointed to the Cabinet in any Western democracy, said that "after lengthy consultations with my family, my friends and political supporters across British Columbia, I will not be putting my name forward."

Dhaliwal admitted he seriously entertained the possibility of a Leadership bid, and was encouraged by countless numbers of long-time supporters especially.

He also stated that he had some reluctance not to enter the current contest scheduled to be decided in early February "because our Province and its electorate deserves strong Liberal alternative leadership in Victoria, representing fresh ideas."

"I have come to the difficult decision…that my seeking to lead the Liberal Party of B.C. at this time in my life is just not a fit. Anyone seeking to champion the forces of free enterprise centered in the BC Liberals as their Leader has to be prepared to invest two, four and maybe even eight to 10 years," Dhaliwal said.

"Regrettably, I am unable to address that requirement with the kind of passion which I feel is essential for the next BC Liberal Leader. In arriving at this decision I want to thank the many supporters who urged me to toss my hat into the ring."

Here Is DESIBUZZCanada's Earlier STORY!

BROWN HORSE: Veteran Federal Liberal Herb Dhaliwal Testing The Waters For BC Liberal Leadership

DESIBUZZCanada originally broke the story that BC Liberal leadership contest was well on its way after former Premier Christy Clark failed to win a majority in the May provincial election and fell one seat short of forming another BC Liberal government. At the time, we featured many names as would-be candidates, including Contenders, No Chance Candidates and Dark Horses but at the time there was no Brown Horse in the picture as one of Dhaliwal’s supporters called him. “Brown Horse to the rescue of the BC Liberal party,” one Dhaliwal supporter mused to DESIBUZZCanada, saying a big LOL at the end. “We are encouraging Herb to run and he will be a sane voice in the party that has veered too far to the right and is out of touch with regular British Columbians. Herb is a great leader and I think he will become the first elected Indo-Canadian Premier despite all the nonsense about Ujjal Dosanjh being the first Indo-Canadian Premier by winning the party leadership and inheriting the Premiership. He was never elected, in fact he led the NDP to one of it’s worst losses in BC.”

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada

Well known Indo-Canadian businessman and veteran federal Liberal Harbance Singh (Herb) Dhaliwal, who was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1993 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Vancouver South, is testing the waters for a BC Liberal leadership run, which currently has a front-runner in Dianne Watts, who also has not officially announced her leadership bid but is well underway in fundraising and membership sign-ups.

BC-Liberal Contenders-WattsSeveral sources told DESIBUZZCanada that many of Dhaliwal’s supporters including his family members have been phoning prominent people in the Indo-Canadian and mainstream communities to seek support for a possible Dhaliwal candidacy.

DESIBUZZCanada originally broke the story that BC Liberal leadership contest was well on its way after former Premier Christy Clark failed to win a majority in the May provincial election and fell one seat short of forming another BC Liberal government. At the time, we featured many names as would-be candidates, including Contenders, No Chance Candidates and Dark Horses but at the time there was no Brown Horse in the picture as one of Dhaliwal’s supporters called him.

“Brown Horse to the rescue of the BC Liberal party,” one Dhaliwal supporter mused to DESIBUZZCanada, saying a big LOL at the end. “We are encouraging Herb to run and he will be a sane voice in the party that has veered too far to the right and is out of touch with regular British Columbians. Herb is a great leader and I think he will become the first elected Indo-Canadian Premier despite all the nonsense about Ujjal Dosanjh being the first Indo-Canadian Premier by winning the party leadership and inheriting the Premiership. He was never elected, in fact he led the NDP to one of it’s worst losses in BC.”

Herb-Dhaliwal-BC-Libs3Dhaliwal, who was part of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s Cabinet (the first Indo-Canadian to become a federal cabinet minister) in 1997 as Minister of Revenue, later held other portfolios including Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and in 2002 Minister of Natural Resources and Minister with political responsibility for British Columbia.

Dhaliwal was a big supporter of Chrétien and fought against Paul Martin's attempt to force the Liberal leader out and was forced out of politics along with Chretien by Martin's campaign team. Dhaliwal publicly denounced Martin's campaign team for this, and criticized them for restricting access to Liberal Party membership forms.

 Allegations were made by Warren Kinsella, among others, that Martin's team exploited the fact that Dhaliwal's wife was suffering from cancer, although Dhaliwal was not with his wife, but rather travelling out of the country on the date of his riding's annual general meeting, which he lost. Dhaliwal’s wife eventually passed away and he remarried several years later but has never returned to politics.

Born in India at Chiheru, Punjab in 1952, Dhaliwal's family emigrated to Vancouver when he was six. He attended John Oliver Secondary School, graduating in 1972.

Dhaliwal is currently in the middle of divorce proceedings with second wife Dr. Neelu Kang Dhaliwal (PhD (Sociology) (see above), who has a son from her previous marriage. Herb's first marriage was to Amrit Dhaliwal, who died of cancer in 2004. He has three children from his first marriage, Andrea, Justin and Jessica.