Peter Sandhu is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician and current Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta

Legislative Assembly of Alberta

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...

 representing the constituency of Edmonton-Manning

Edmonton Manning

Edmonton-Manning is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.- Members of the Legislative Assembly :-Boundary history:-2004 general election:-2004 Senate nominee election district results:...

 as a Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta

The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...

.

Early life

Sandhu, who grew up in a farming family, left his native India for Canada at the age of 18 in 1979, settling in the Vancouver area and finding work on a farm. Two years later, he moved to Alberta and got a job at a steel factory. After a workplace injury in 1987 that negatively impacted his health, Sandhu began building homes on the side while still working as a crane operator at the plant. For 10 years, he worked two jobs; a homebuilder and realtor by day and a crane operator by night. He later quit at the steel plant and focused on his homebuilding business, which he has now owned for 16 years.

Sandhu's uncle was an elected official in India, and he credits working on one of his campaigns with sparking his interest in politics and democracy.

Political career

Sandhu defeated the incumbent independent MLA Dan Backs by 1,834 votes to win Edmonton-Manning

Edmonton Manning

Edmonton-Manning is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.- Members of the Legislative Assembly :-Boundary history:-2004 general election:-2004 Senate nominee election district results:...

. Backs, elected as an Alberta Liberal

Alberta Liberal Party

The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...

 in 2004, was ousted from caucus by leader Kevin Taft

Kevin Taft

Kevin Taft is a Liberal politician in Alberta, Canada. He was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, from 2004 to 2008...

 before the election. Backs placed third in the constituency, placing 27 votes behind runner-up Rick Murti of the Alberta New Democrats

Alberta New Democratic Party

The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

.

He sits on three legislative committees; Public Accounts, Private Bills and Public Safety and Security.

Personal life

Sandhu married his wife Kamal in 1984. Together, they have three children; Preetinder, Bhavneet, and Inderdeep. In 2003, Sandhu was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal, and in 2005, he served as a centennial ambassador during Alberta's 100th anniversary celebrations.

Election results

2008 Alberta general election results ( Edmonton-Manning Edmonton Manning Edmonton-Manning is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada.- Members of the Legislative Assembly :-Boundary history:-2004 general election:-2004 Senate nominee election district results:...  )			font style="font-size: 90%;">Turnout 39.8%
Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	%	Progressive Conservative	Peter Sandhu	4,109	36%	Wildrose Alliance Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta The Wildrose Party, formerly Wildrose Alliance Party, is a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. It includes free market conservative, libertarian and socially conservative factions and was formed in 2008 following a merger of the Wildrose Party of Alberta and the Alberta...	Phil Gamache	287	3%	Liberal Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...	Sandeep Dhir	2,261	20%	Green Green Party of Alberta The Green Party of Alberta, also known as the Alberta Greens, was a provincial political party in the province of Alberta, Canada.The Alberta Greens were formed in 1986 and received official party status on April 6, 1990...	Odette Boily	234	2%	NDP Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...	Rick Murti	2,302	20%	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	Dan Backs	2,275	20%
Total			11,468	100%