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RED DEER, Alta. — A Conservative member of the legislature lauded as “a big man with a giant heart” was killed Monday after stopping on an icy central Alberta highway to help a motorist whose car had flipped in a median.
Manmeet Bhullar, 35, who represented Calgary-Greenway, was one of only 10 Conservatives to win re-election this spring when the Tories under his long-time friend Jim Prentice were swept from power by the NDP.
“It is hard to express how significant this loss is to our province and to our country. He was a pillar of strength for everyone who knew him,” said Prentice in a statement.
“(I am) devastated to hear of the death of my friend and incredible public servant,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
He called Bhullar “a true warrior for fairness and justice … a man who defined integrity, who was genuine in everything he did, who never stopped fighting so that everyone could live a life of dignity.”
As a winter storm descended on Alberta around noon on Monday, Bhullar was heading back to Edmonton after attending the launch in Calgary of a research project on the Alberta Men’s Survey, which will study men’s thoughts on personal well-being and healthy interpersonal relationships.
RCMP did not identify Bhullar but issued a news release about the death of a 35-year-old man on Monday afternoon on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway north of Red Deer.
RCMP said at about 2:20 p.m., a vehicle lost control and rolled, and two other vehicles stopped on the shoulder of the highway to assist.
A semi-truck then lost control and struck the rear of the first vehicle, then continued into the median and struck the driver and sole occupant of the second vehicle, who was standing in the median. RCMP said the man was seriously injured and taken to hospital but later died of his injuries.
“It’s typical that he would die in a selfless gesture of trying to help somebody else in need,” former Alberta treasurer Jim Dinning in a telephone interview from Montreal.
“He was just a big, imposing guy and yet I always thought of him as a softie. He was determined and fierce but really cared about not so much about what people thought but how we could be doing better than we are.”
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel said Bhullar was one of the first friends she made in Calgary and had a bright future in the rebuilding of the Alberta Tory party.
“I’m in shock,” she said. “I still can’t believe it’s real.”
Premier Rachel Notley called Bhullar’s death a “terrible tragedy” and said “all Albertans should be proud of his significant contributions to public life,” calling him a passionate advocate for the province. Opposition Wildrose Leader Brian Jean echoed those sentiments and said Bhullar’s absence will be felt across the province.
Interim federal Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose tweeted her condolences, saying “we have all lost a friend.”
Alberta’s Tory caucus issued a statement lauding his passion and dedication and saying he “accomplished more in his brief time than most people accomplish in their lifetimes.”
Bhullar had been minister of human services in the government of former premier Alison Redford, held the infrastructure portfolio under Prentice, and was most recently serving as the Tory party’s critic on finance, the Treasury Board and infrastructure.
“On our last lunch, he told me about how being in opposition wasn’t all bad,” said Nenshi. “It gave him the time and capacity to work on issues that were very close to him, including the plight of Sikhs seeking to escape Afghanistan.
“I always looked forward to our long lunches over vegetarian Hakka Indian food and chai in our neighbourhood, talking politics and community and religion and pluralism and life,” Nenshi said of Bhullar, who was a Sikh.
“He was one of the finest men I have ever met in politics, or anywhere.”
The World Sikh Organization tweeted that “Canada, the Sikh community and Alberta have lost a gem. May his legacy live on forever.”
Interim provincial Tory Leader Ric McIver noted Bhullar had recently returned from Brussels, where he was seeking safe spaces from European leaders for Sikh and Hindu refugees from Afghanistan.
Bhullar was born in Calgary and was first elected at the age of 28. He was the minister put in charge of the Tory government’s file on the deaths of children in care, bringing in changes that were prompted by a Postmedia newspaper series that revealed gaps in child death investigations and the frustration of families who couldn’t talk publicly about the their loved ones because of an automatic ban on their identities.
Following the series, Bhullar released information that showed hundreds of children had died who had previously been in care, were in indirect care, or had injuries under investigation.
Late Monday, his family issued a statement.
“The light in our lives went dark today,” they said. “Manmeet Singh left us while he was doing what he loved more than anything — helping someone else.
“He demanded excellence of himself and those around him. We are all better because of him.”
