Ontario Federal Liberal Co-Chair Navdeep Bains Will Most Likely Get Senior Cabinet Post – Immigration And Foreign Affairs A Possibility!
Sukh Dhaliwal And Harjit Sajjan Also Eyeing Cabinet Posts!
There are five turbaned Sikhs — Harjit Sajjan, Raj Grewal, Darshan Kang, Navdeep Bains, Jati Sidhu and Randip Sarai – who have been elected. Four Punjabi women – Sonia Sidhu, Kamal Khera, Anju Dhillon and Ruby Sahota – have also been elected.
By R. Paul Dhillon
With News Files
SURREY – On Monday night, history was made as Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, the son of the late great Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, show remarkable grit as he came from third place to win a majority mandate that saw Canada elect more than two dozen Indo-Canadian MPs and 20 in total of South Asian descent.
The 42nd Canadian federal elections saw a virtual rout by the Liberals electing a maximum number of visible minority MPs, including 11 Aboriginal MPs.
At the start of the elections, there were 44 Indo-Canadian-South Asian candidates – out of which 20 have been elected to Parliament, which saw the governing Conservatives under the divisive and “racist” leadership of Stephen Harper get thrown out with the party going from majority government to 99 seats.
NDP’s Orange Crush has crashed and burned with the party going from official opposition to just 44 seats, a reminiscent of its old days in the Canadian parliament
Indo-Canadian community really gave strength to Liberal push on Monday.
Against the backdrop of controversial ads targeting ethnic voters, which left some communities offended, four Indo-Candian Liberal candidates were elected in the Lower Mainland: Harjit Sajjan took Vancouver South, Sukh Dhaliwal took Surrey-Newton, Randeep Sarai took Surrey Centre and Jati Sidhu won Mission–Matsqui–Fraser Canyon.
Among the prominent Indo-Canadian winners include Ontario Liberal campaign co-chair Navdeep Bains, who will most likely get a senior cabinet post either Immigration or Foreign Affairs.
Former MP Sukh Dhaliwal is also eyeing a cabinet post, most likely a junior one like either Multiculturalism or Sports.
Both Bains and Dhaliwal had lost the battle last time under leader Michael Ignatieff but made a triumphant return to the federal scene.
Four Punjabi women – Sonia Sidhu, Kamal Khera, Anju Dhillon and Ruby Sahota have also been elected. Among the lone Conservative Indo-Canadian to survive is the most ineffective MP Deepak Obhrai, who was continually shunned by Harper for even junior cabinet post.
Prominent Conservative and NDP losers include Multiculturalism Minister Tim Uppal and Sports Minister Bal Gosal, MPs Devinder Shorey, Param Gill, Nina Grewal and NDPers Jinny Sims, Jasbir.
Uppal lost the election to Amarjit Sohi of the Liberal Party with a thin margin of 80 votes in Edmonton-Mill Woods in Alberta.
There are five turbaned Sikhs — Harjit Sajjan, Raj Grewal, Darshan Kang, Navdeep Bains, Jati Sidhu and Randip Sarai – who have been elected. Sajjan, who has been elected from Vancouver South, an area dominated by people of Chinese origin, is a serving Lt Colonel in the Canadian army who led Canada’s effort in Afghanistan war.
Twenty is the maximum number of Indo-Canadian-South Asians ever elected. In 2008, 10 and in 2011, eightIndo-Canadians were elected. First time in 1993, three Indo-Canadians made to Parliament. One of them was Gurbax Singh Malhi, the first turbaned Sikh to be elected.
The 17 winning Indo-Canadian-South Asians belong to the Liberal Party, which gained a clear majority in the 338-member with 184 seats.
Traditionally, Indo-Canadians-Punjabis have been close to the Liberal Party, the reason the party put up maximum number of candidates from the community.
The Liberals had nominated 20 Indo-Canadians in the elections and most were Punjabis. Of these, 15 Punjabis have been elected.
Anju Dhillon won in a French-speaking constituency where Punjabi population is negligible.
The Liberal Party has promised to revoke C-24 Bill, which empowered the Canadian government to divest any immigrant, found involved in anti-Canada or any terrorist activity, of citizenship.
The party has also promised to soften the C-51 Bill authorising the government to make arrest without issuing an arrest warrant in a terror-related case.
The list of Indo-Canadians elected to the House of Commons: Raj Saini, Raj Grewal, Kamal Khera, Ruby Sahota, Sonia Sidhu, Rameshwar Sangha, Navdeep Bains, Gagan Sikand, Yasmin Ratansi, Sukh Dhaliwal, Darshan Kang, Harjit Sajjan, Amarjit Sohi, Anju Dhillon, Randip Sarai, Deepak Obhrai, Jati Sidhu, Chander Aryan, Bardish Chaggar and Bob Saroya.
