44th Canadian Parliament has 17 Indo-Canadian MP’s

Ottawa, 21 Sept: Once again, history has been made in Canada in the 44th federal elections,
results of which were out on Monday, 20th September. Of the 59 Indo-Canadian candidates, 17
are elected to Canada’s Parliament. As many as 16 Punjabis have been elected as members of the
House of Commons (Parliament). The number exceeds the figure of those elected in Punjab,
back in India, for the Lok Sabha (14).
These 17 MP’s have won from four provinces, namely Ontario (8), British Columbia (5), Alberta
(3), and Quebec (1). Today, they are a part of the decision- making of the future of this country
that every immigrant community across the globe should emulate.
[Clockwise] Sukh Dhaliwal, Bardish Jagger, Jagmeet Singh, Ruby Sahota, Sonia Sidhu, Tim Uppal
Out of these 17 members, 16 belong to Canadian Punjabi community, of which3 members
belong to the Conservative Party, one from NDP, while remaining 13 are Liberals. Five members
of the Parliament are turban -wearing Sikhs while six are women. Chander Arya, who won from
Napean, is from Karnatka, back in India.
First Indo-Canadian and a turban-wearing Sikh member of Canadian parliament Gurbax Malhi
was got elected in 1993. First time in 1993, three Indo-Canadians made to the Parliament. Prior
to this, the maximum number of Indo-Canadians were elected 20 in 2019, and 19 in 2015
election.
This time the Liberal Party has won 158 seats, the Conservative party, 119 and the NDP is
placed third with 25 seats. Other two parties Bloc Quebecois and Green party has scored 34 and
2 seats respectively.
Traditionally, Punjabis have been close to the Liberal Party. It was only in 1947 that IndoCanadians were given the right to vote. The Indo-Canadian community, especially Punjabis,
have, since then, not looked back. For them, the 1990 Calgary Convention of the Liberal Party,
leading to the election of Jean Chretien as its leader, was a milestone, for it formed a solid, loyal
voting block for the future Prime Minister of Canada.
It was the first time the community organised itself as a political force. Thus, the political leaders
of the Indian origin in Canada rose from the grassroots with no mentor to help them in scaling
the political ladder. Today, they are getting voter support to move on to the provincial and
federal stage. Till-date, 39 Indo-Canadians have been elected as members of Parliament since
1993, while 63 have been elected to the 7 provincial legislatures of Canada. And six have been
nominated to the Senate of this country.
They, somehow, do not get assimilated in their new political environs.
Among the 17 Indo-Canadian winners who won the election are:
[ONTARIO]
Nepean
Lib —Chandra Arya (incumbent)
Brampton East
Lib —Maninder Sidhu (incumbent)
Brampton North
Lib —Ruby Sahota (incumbent)
Brampton South
Lib —Sonia Sidhu (incumbent)
Brampton West
Lib —Kamal Khera (incumbent)
Mississauga—Malton
Lib — Iqwinder Singh Gaheer
Oakville
Lib —Anita Anand (incumbent)
Waterloo
Lib —Bardish Jagger (incumbent)
[QUEBEC] 1
Doval –Lachine –LaSalle
Lib —Anju Dhillon (incumbent)
[ALBERTA] 3
Edmonton Millwoods
CPC—Tim Uppal (incumbent)
Calgary Forest Lawn
CPC- Jasraj Singh Hallan (incumbent)
Calgary Skyview
Lib —George Chahal
[BRITISH COLUMBIA] 5
Steveston – Richmond East
Lib —Parm Bains (incumbent)
Surrey Centre
Lib —Randeep Singh Sarai (incumbent)
Surrey Newton
Lib —Sukh Dhaliwal (incumbent)
Burnby South
NDP—Jagmeet Singh (incumbent)
Vancouver South
Lib —Harjit S Sajjan (incumbent)
[NOTE: Four incumbent MP’s who didn’t run in this election were: Navdeep Bains
(Mississauga Streetsville), Gagan Sikand (Mississauga Malton), Rameshwar Sangha (Brampton
Centre), and –Raj Saini (Kitchner Centre) — all were liberals; Besides Bob Saroya ( Markham
Unionvillie), and Jag Sahota ( Calgary Skyview) were defeated. Two candidates (George Chahal
and Iqwinder Singh Gaheer) have won for the first time]

Editor, Asian Times*