Pioneers Pave the Way for Others

Minister of National Defence, Government of Canada

Harjit Sajjan came to Canada from India at the age of 5 and grew up in South Vancouver. He benefited from its diverse, accepting culture. He served as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department, a Lieutenant Colonel with the British Columbia Regiment, and had four operational deployments -- one to Bosnia and three to Afghanistan. He became the minister of National Defence on November 4, 2015, and again in 2019 for a second term.