PARAM Grewal, who was a candidate for Delta Council in the recent civic election, has been appointed to the position of Director of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Mayor George V. Harvies’ office on a four-year contract.

A City announcement said: “Param comes to us with over 30 years of diverse experience in both the public, non-profit and private sector, as well as extensive volunteer experience supporting the community. He has vast experience in working with the various levels of government both at a provincial and federal level. Param brings with him significant experience working with community in support of various initiatives and social programming.”

Param is multilingual. He speaks Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi / Urdu and English and has a good grasp of Gujarati as well.

Param had his schooling in Kolkata (Calcutta), the capital of West Bengal state in the eastern part of India. He did his Bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the state of Punjab and went on to earn his MBA. For six years he worked in sales and marketing for some of the top companies in India, including Asian Paints.

In 1992, Param immigrated to Canada. He worked in social services and non-profit organizations for 15 years. He was on the Board of PIAC (Public Interest Advocacy Group) in Vancouver – a lawyers’ organization that has taken up cases against big organizations such as ICBC and BC Hydro and slum lords on behalf of the public as well as fought for farm workers’ rights.

Param also operated a small business for seven years.

Param is well known in political circles and is an astute, seasoned campaigner having been involved in many provincial and federal campaigns.

He has worked with Charan Gill of PICS as a Director of Social Programs and was recently an Executive Assistant to NDP Minister Jinny Sims. He has also worked as political and ministerial staff for elected officials at the provincial and federal levels.

Param has lived in Delta for 15 years – the last four years in Ladner.