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Raminder Gill, first Sikh appointed citizenship Judge in Canada |
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 TORONTO: Raminder Gill, who created history in Ontario by becoming the first South Asian member of the provincial parliament (MPP) in 1999, has become the first Indo-Canadian to be appointed citizenship judge in the province.
Gill is among the four persons whose appointments were announced by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg in Ottawa. “There are 15 citizenship judges across Canada who process about 150,000 applications for citizenship each year. I am the only Indo-Canadian among them and the first in Ontario. Though I have not been officially intimated yet, I am very happy to know about my appointment. It is an honour,’’ he said. Gill is an active member of the University of Toronto Chemical Engineering Faculty Advisory Board and also serves as an international consultant. He has also served as director of operations for many multinational pharmaceutical companies. “It is a full-time job, and I will be intimated later where I will sit- it could be Mississauga or Toronto or Scarborough,’’ he said. Gill said he was consulted by the minister before his appointment. “This is an important job as a judge reviews all applications for citizenship. You have to know whether a person is eligible for citizenship of this country…it is not easy now. One has to take into consideration many other factors also. The judge also presides over oath-taking ceremonies for new citizens. I look forward to my new role,” he said. The former MPP said he was asked to take up this job because of his qualifications and track record. “I have been a long-standing member of the local community. I have served as an MPP, and I have promoted Canada in my various roles,’’ he explained. Gill said his appointment to the new job didn’t mean that he will not be active in politics. “No, no this job doesn’t mean that I am out of politics,’’ he stressed. Gill has contested for MP but without success. His family was the first to set up a grocery store named India Trading Company and India House Restaurant in Toronto in the 1940s. |
