A businessman and politician, Herb Dhaliwal was elected in 1993 representing the federal riding of Vancouver South. In 1997 he was re-elected and appointed Minister of National Revenue, and became the first South Asian to hold a senior cabinet ministerial position in a Western democracy. In 1999, he was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and in 2002 Minister of Natural Resources for BC.
In addition to his many diversified business interests, Herb has recently focused on his native India where he works on projects to provide clean water and sanitation to areas and villages that would otherwise be lacking these basic and essential services.