Harjit Sajjan: Meet Canada's new 'badass' defence minister

Photos of Canada's new defence minister,Harjit Sajjan, a decorated lieutenant-colonel with the Canadian Armed Forces, weremaking the rounds on social media shortly after his swearing-in on Wednesday in Ottawa, with many highlighting histough-guy image.

Several on Twitter and Redditdescribed himas a "badass."

Military background

Sajjan,the newlyelected LiberalMP for Vancouver South and member of Prime Minister JustinTrudeau's cabinet,grew up in his ridingand later walked the streets ofVancouver as a detective with the Vancouver Police Department's gang crime unit.

He served for 11 years with the police, according to his biography.

According to Twitter Canada, the announcement thatSajjanwould bejoining the cabinet was theLiberal Party'smostretweetedpost of the day.

Sajjan is a combat veteran. He served one tour in Bosniaand was deployed three timesto Afghanistan.

He wasthe first Sikh to command a Canadian army regiment the reserve The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own).

Some compared his on-the-ground experience with the Canadian military to his predecessors.

He hasalso been awarded several military honours, includingthe Meritorious Service Medal in 2013for reducing the Taliban's influence in the Kandaharprovince of Afghanistan, and aCanadian Peacekeeping Service Medal.

"He was the best single Canadian intelligence asset in theatre, and his hard work, personal bravery, and dogged determination undoubtedly saved a multitude of coalition lives," saidBrig.-Gen. David Fraser in a letter to theVancouver police.

"Through his courage and dedication, [then]Major Sajjan has singlehandedly changed the face of intelligence gathering and analysis in Afghanistan."

Sajjan is currently still a reservistwith the Canadian Forces,which means he is technically a soldier only when he is in uniform, in a base or establishment, in a military conveyance or actually signed in or on duty.

According to the Defence Department, Sajjan requested he be released from the Forces on Oct. 21 and the process is expected to be resolved this week.

"The minister of national defence's release from the Canadian Armed Forces is currently being processed in order to ensure that he receives the appropriate benefits based on his long and honourable service in the CAF," the department said in a statement.

Political controversy

Sajjan's entry into politics was not without controversy.

A large contingentof Sikh Liberals in B.C. quit the party last year, saying Trudeau was being"manipulated" by Sikhs under the banner of the World Sikh Organization, when the Liberalsselected him as a star candidate overformer Liberal MP Barj Dhahan.

Sajjan is the son of a veteran WSO board member, Kundan Sajjan, who led fundamentalist Sikhs in a losing battle with moderates over control of the Ross Street Temple in South Vancouver.

Meanwhile,Dhahan wasa moderate ally of Ujjal Dosanjh, the previous Liberal MP.

The younger Sajjan denied he was a member of the WSO at the time.

Family man

Sajjanis also a family man. Heis married to Dr. Kuljit Kaur Sajjan, afamily doctor,and they havetwo young children.

According tohis website,Sajjan and his wife have also sponsored four children,and support many charities that promote health and education forimpoverished children.