Punjabi-Canadians Rock In BC Civic Elections With Two Elected Mayor In Kelowna And Vernon

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Twelve Indo-Canadians Elected To Council Around BC Including Newcomer Kelly Chahal In Abbotsford!

Colin Basran has been elected mayor of Kelowna
Akbal Singh Mund elected mayor in Vernon

The winners’ circle includes Collin Basran, who has been elected as the youngest Mayor in the city of Kelowna with Akbal Singh Mund becoming the mayor in Vernon.

Councillor Tom Gill big winner and top vote getter in Surrey
Sav Dhaliwal re-elected in Burnaby
Probation officer Kelly Chahal elected to Abbotsford Council

Big Council winners included Surrey First’s Tom Gill who again topped all polls with 52,000 plus votes, getting more votes than even Surrey mayor Linda Hepner. Other big council winners include Kelly Chahal in Abbotsford. Returning councillors include Sav Dhaliwal in Burnaby, Moe Gill in Abbotsford, Arjun Singh and Mohini Singh from Kamloops and Kelowna respectively, Gurvinder Singh Randhawa from Prince Rupert, Sarabjit Rai from Osoyoos, Tarik Sayeed from Penticton, Sushil  Thapar from Quesnel, Dave Raj Birdi from Fort St. John and Dalvir Nahal from Vernon.

By R. Paul Dhillon

With News Files

SURREY – Punjabi-Canadian rock the BC civic election, making significant gains in seats and making a great impact in the BC civic elections.

Arjan Singh - Kamloops
Moe Gill - Abbotsford

At least two Punjabis have been elected Mayors and many city councillors and school trustees during November 15 municipal elections held across the province.

Collin Basran has been elected as the youngest Mayor in the city of Kelowna, while Akbal Singh Mund has won the mayoral election in Vernon. In Williams Lake, Surinderpal Singh Rathore was defeated in the mayoral race.

Twelve Punjabi or South Asian candidates in total have been elected as city councillors in different municipalities.

Moe Gill has been re-elected in Abbotsford, which has also elected Kelly Chahal as city councillor. Preet Rai has been re-elected as school trustee in the same city.

In Burnaby, Sav Dhaliwal has been re-elected as city councillor, while Baljinder Narang and Harman Pandher have been re-elected as school trustees. Dave Birdi has been re-elected as city councillor in Fort Saint James and likewise Tom Gill has been re-elected for the same position in Surrey.

Terry Gidha, a long time city councillor in Mission was defeated. Mission had once elected first Indo Canadian Mayor Niranjan Singh Grewal. There is a street renamed after him in the city.

Gurvinder Randhawa
Tarik Sayeed
Dave Raj Birdi
Sushil Thapar
Dalvir Nahal

Both in Kamloops and Kelowna, Arjun Singh and Mohini Singh have been re-elected as city councillors respectively. From Prince Rupert, Gurvinder Singh Randhawa was elected as City Councillor. Also elected as city councillors are Sarabjit Rai from Osoyoos, Tarik Sayeed from Penticton, Sushil  Thapar from Quesnel, Dave Raj Birdi from Fort St. John and Dalvir Nahal from Vernon.

Baljinder Narang
Harman Pandher
Gary Thind

Harman Pandher, Baljinder Narang have been re-elected as school trustees and Garry Thind makes his debut as elected school trustee in Surrey.