pic-cap #2 – Liberal candidate Harinder Malhi is mobbed by her supporters and her mother Devinder Malhi, right, as she arrived at the Satkar Palace banquet hall to deliver her victory speech.
Record 10 South Asian MPPs Elected In Ontario Elections Thursday
TORONTO – A record number of South Asians were elected, primarily to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal party, which easily won a majority government after polls had predicted a close race between the incumbent Liberals and the Ontario PC party led by the bungling leader Tim Hudak, who announced immediately after the thrashing where his party lost seats that he will be resigning following a huge poll debacle.
Among the winners include Liberal Harinder Malhi who defeated star NDP candidate Gurpreet Dhillon. The other Liberal winners include former minister Harinder Takhar, Mississauga-Brampton MPP Amrit Mangat (left) and Mississauga East-Cooksville MPP Dipika Damerla, Shafaiq Qaadri, Bas Balkissoon, Indira Naidoo-Harris, Yasir Naqvi and Vic Dhillon. The lone NDP Indo-Canadian-South Asian MPP is returning Jagmeet Singh.
One of the new Indo-Canadian faces will be the Brampton-Springdale winner Malhi who was in front of cheering supporters at Satkar Palace Banquet Hall Thursday night declaring victory for voters and Liberals.
“Thank you all. You are my backbone,” she said. “We have a lot of work ahead. I’ve heard your concerns,” Malhi said, adding the Liberal budget that couldn’t find political support at Queen’s Park a month ago would be passed in the next 20 days.
Malhi, who is the daughter of former long-time Brampton Liberal MP Gurbax Malhi, called out for her father before thanking family, friends and volunteers for their support.
The elder Malhi expressed his pride as a father and also confessed his daughter’s victory fulfills his “dream” to have a family member follow in his political footsteps.
The younger Malhi brought some community recognition to the table despite being new to the provincial stage. She has been a Peel District School Board trustee since 2010, reported Brampton Guardian.
But the sudden move to provincial politics was still a big step up for the 33-year-old real estate agent.
Malhi ran for the PC’s in Bramalea-Gore-Malton in 2007 and finished second— by more than 7,000 votes— to former Liberal MPP Kuldip Kular.
In 2011, she campaigned for the PC party again in Brampton-Springdale and finished second to by 2,909 votes.
While Malhi was rejoicing, it was another sad turn of events for PC’s long running and long losing Pam Hundal, who lost again, coming third to Liberal winner and NDP second place candidate Gurpreet Dhillon.
As the clock approached midnight, Hundal sat around a table at Chandni Banquet Hall with family. Most of her disappointed supporters had long since departed.
“I think the voters just did not connect with the (Conservative) platform that was offered,” Hundal said during a quiet moment. “There was a huge communication gap for sure.”
Elections Ontario results showed Malhi winning with 16,848 votes, followed by Dhillon with 13,481 votes, then Hundal with 10,234, Green Party candidate Laila Zarrabi was fourth with 1,322 votes and Communist Party candidate Elizabeth Hill had 398 votes, reported Brampton Guardian.
The voter turnout in the riding was 46.5 per cent— the highest in the city.
The Liberals were elected or leading in 59 ridings, the Progressive Conservatives in 27 and the NDP in 21. At dissolution, the Liberals held 48 seats, the PCs held 37 seats, while the NDP held 21 seats. One seat was vacant.
ELECTED SOUTH ASIAN MPPs (All Liberals Except One)
Harinder Malhi
Harinder Takhar
Amrit Mangat
Dipika Damerla
Shafaiq Qaadri
Bas Balkissoon
Indira Naidoo-Harris
Yasir Naqvi
Vic Dhillon
Jagmeet Singh (NDP)
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The Thursday night event was a celebration of the project to date, where the centre is now actively providing patient care and education to future oral health care professionals in BC.
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