assembly, he served as critic for health, labour, housing, native affairs, sport and co-operatives, and consumer and corporate affairs. He resigned his seat on June 17, 1993. BC politics Soon afterwards, he opened a family practice in Surrey, British Columbia. Cheema became involved in several community activities in British Columbia, including acting as chair of the 1998 British Columbia Games for Athletes with Disabilities' medical section. Although the British Columbia Liberal Party is usually regarded as significantly more right-wing than the Manitoba party, Cheema nevertheless ran as a BC Liberal in that province's 1996 provincial election. He was unsuccessful, finishing 380 votes behind New Democratic Party candidate Ian Waddell in Vancouver-Fraserview. The BC New Democrats experienced a sharp decline in their popularity between 1996 and 2001, and the provincial Liberals were elected in a landslide in that year's provincial election. Cheema had no difficulty being elected in Surrey-Panorama Ridge, defeating NDP candidate Bruce Ralston by over 6,000 votes. On June 5, 2001, he was appointed Minister of State for Mental Health Services. On January 20, 2004, he was appointed Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services. Federal politics Later in 2004, Cheema sought and won the federal Liberal nomination in the new riding of Fleetwood—Port Kells. He was removed from cabinet hours after submitting his nomination papers, and subsequently resigned as a provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly (Canadian politicians seeking federal office are usually required to step down from their provincial responsibilities.) In a relatively close three-way race, Cheema was defeated by Conservative candidate Nina Grewal, 14,052 votes to 11,568 (New Democratic Party candidate Barry Bell received 10,976 votes). Election results References 1954 births Living people Canadian general practitioners British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Canadian politicians of Indian descent Canadian Sikhs Indian emigrants to Canada Indian Sikhs Candidates in the 2004 Canadian federal election Manitoba Liberal Party MLAs Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni People from Surrey, British Columbia Punjabi people University of British Columbia faculty Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian physicians