Ravi Kahlon

Ravinder "Ravi" Kahlon (born May 15, 1979 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian politician and field hockey player.

The Honourable Ravi Kahlon MLA
Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office November 26, 2020
Premier	John Horgan
Preceded by	Michelle Mungall
Parliamentary Secretary for Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development of British Columbia
In office July 26, 2019 – November 26, 2020
Premier	John Horgan
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Roly Russell (Rural Development)
Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Multiculturalism of British Columbia
In office July 18, 2017 – July 26, 2019
Premier	John Horgan
Preceded by	Sam Sullivan (Minister of Sport)
Succeeded by	position abolished
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Delta North
Incumbent
Assumed office May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Scott Hamilton
Personal details
Born	May 15, 1979 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Political party	New Democratic
Residence	Delta, British Columbia
Occupation	Athlete, politician

Kahlon began playing field hockey as a defender in the Victoria League at age twelve; he was selected to the Junior National Team in 1999 and was named team captain. Kahlon was a student at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia at the time. He earned his first international senior cap for the Men's National Team in 2000 against Malaysia in Brussels.

Eventually competing at every level of international competition, Kahlon's career would include playing three times in Hockey World Cup qualifying tournaments, representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games, and a tenth-place finish at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2013, Kahlon was inducted into the Delta Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

In October 2016, Kahlon announced he would be running for office in the 2017 British Columbia provincial election with the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP).[2] Kahlon won the NDP nomination in Delta North, an electoral district in Delta, British Columbia, a suburban city in Metro Vancouver. Delta North is considered a swing district, having been won three times each by the BC NDP and British Columbia Liberal Party in the six elections prior to 2017. When the election was held on May 9, 2017, Kahlon defeated Liberal incumbent Scott Hamilton by a margin of 9.14 percentage points.

The 2017 British Columbia election resulted in a hung parliament, with no party controlling a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. However, the NDP was eventually able to form a minority government with the support of the Green Party of British Columbia. The NDP government was sworn in on July 18, 2017, with new Premier John Horgan naming Kahlon as Parliamentary Secretary for Sport and Multiculturalism.[3]

Kahlon supported eventual winner Jagmeet Singh for leader of the federal New Democratic Party in that party's 2017 leadership election.[4]

Electoral record

2020 British Columbia general election: Delta North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ravi Kahlon	12,215	56.78	+7.95	$53,820.55
	Liberal	Jet Sunner	7,179	33.37	−6.32	$41,134.08
	Green	Neema Manral	2,120	9.85	−1.64	$9,864.40
Total valid votes			21,514	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Registered voters
Source: Elections BC[5][6]

2017 British Columbia general election: Delta North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Ravi Kahlon	11,465	48.83	+5.24	$48,460
	Liberal	Scott Hamilton	9,319	39.69	−4.84	$65,204
	Green	Jacquie Miller	2,697	11.48	+5.40	$2,920
Total valid votes			23,481	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			123	0.52	+0.10
Turnout			23,604	64.99	+5.05
Registered voters			36,319
Source: Elections BC[7][8]

International senior competitions

• 2000 — Olympic Games, Sydney (10th)
• 2001 — World Cup Qualifier, Edinburgh (8th)
• 2002 — Commonwealth Games, Manchester (6th)
• 2003 — Pan American Games, Santo Domingo (2nd)
• 2004 — Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Madrid (11th)
• 2004 — Pan American Cup, London (2nd)
• 2006 — Commonwealth Games, Melbourne (9th)
• 2007 — Pan American Games, Rio de Janeiro (1st)
• 2008 — Olympic Games, Beijing (10th)

References

1. "Ravi Kahlon - Delta Sports Hall of Fame". Delta Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
2. Kahlon, Ravi. "Community leader and Olympian Ravi Kahlon seeks North Delta seat for BC NDP". ravikahlon.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
3. Shaw, Rob (July 18, 2017). "B.C. NDP Cabinet 2017: Metro Vancouver MLAs handed key cabinet roles". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
4. Forrest, Maura (July 11, 2017). "NDP leadership tracker: Wab Kinew endorses Jagmeet Singh". National Post. Retrieved March 1, 2018. “Jagmeet, like many of B.C.’s newly elected MLAs, represents a new energy that is the future of our party. I’ve seen Jagmeet in action here in BC and watched him connect with people. Jagmeet is the leader our federal party needs,” said Ravi Kahlon, the MLA for Delta North, in a statement.
5. "2020 Provincial General Election Final Voting Results". electionsbcenr.blob.core.windows.net. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
6. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
7. "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
8. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

• Canadian Olympic Committee