Baljit Singh Chadha
Person
Baljit Singh Chadha, PC (born 1952) is president and founder of Balcorp Limited, an international trade and marketing firm. He is also a well known philanthropist and a leader of the Sikh community in Canada.
Chadha immigrated to Canada in 1973 from India to study business administration. He remained and founded Balcorp in 1976, building it into a $50 million concern with offices in Montreal, New Delhi and Mumbai. His international trading company has varied interests that include agricultural food products, processed foods, forestry products, and minerals. Chadha's company sells asbestos to India and other countries in the developing world where many of the workers later develop asbestosis and mesothelioma. The European Union has banned asbestos. Reputable medical organizations throughout the world, including the World Health Organization, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Canadian Cancer Society, have condemned the use of any form of asbestos, chrysotile included. In 2003, Chadha was appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to the Security Intelligence Review Committee as well as to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.