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Oct

Elections in Canada: Every eighth candidate is of Indian descent

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Prabhjot Singh

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Toronto, Canada | Thursday | 3 October 2024

Indo-Canadian politicians have taken the politics of the country of their adoption by storm.  Almost every eighth candidate for the ensuing British Columbia Provincial Parliament elections to be held on October 19  belongs to the Indian Diaspora. Of 323 candidates in fray for the 93-member BC Assembly,  45  of them have Indian roots.

Interestingly, they are in the run to represent the BC Assembly from only 26 ridings.

Ten members of the Indian Diaspora, who sat in the outgoing 42nd Parliament, are  Harry Bains (Minister of Labour), Jagrup Brar (Minister of State for Trade), Raj Chauhan (Speaker), Olympian Ravi Kahlon (Minister of Housing), Nikki Sharma (Attorney General),  Rachna Singh (Education and Child Care Minister), Ravi Parmar, Harwinder Sandhu,  Jinny Sims, and Aman Singh.

Candidates for the 43rd British Columbia Assembly represent all major parties, including the ruling NDP, Liberals, Conservatives, Freedom Party, Greens, Independents and Unaffiliated.

Five-time member Harry Bains, who held the portfolio of Labour in the outgoing government, has decided not to seek his sixth election from Surrey-Newton. Instead, the NDP has put up Jessie Sunner from there.

 

Article at a Glance
Indo-Canadian politicians have made a significant impact in Canadian politics, with 45 candidates of Indian descent running in the upcoming British Columbia Provincial Parliament elections.
This represents a remarkable growth from a single seat in 1986 to multiple politicians in five Provincial Parliaments. The candidates, mostly second-generation Canadians, are well-qualified professionals from top universities in Canada. Notable Indo-Canadian politicians include Harry Bains, Jagrup Brar, and Ravi Kahlon, who have held ministerial positions.
The community's success is attributed to their ability to assimilate into Canadian politics, moving away from involvement in politics back home. This trend is expected to continue, with Indo-Canadian politicians emerging as a strong political entity in Canada.

 

Going by history, Indo-Canadian politicians after establishing their credibility at the community level, and now, based on their track record, are emerging as a strong political entity with their growing presence on the provincial and federal stage.  When  British Columbia went to the polls last time,  migrants from India became major playmakers as they held their record since their entry into provincial politics in 1986. Since then it has been a success story that every immigrant community across the globe should emulate.

After making a dent in the political scenario of the province of British Columbia in Canada in the early 80s when they sent Moe Sihota to the state legislature as an elected MLA on the New Democratic Party ticket,  politicians of Indian descent have come a long way. They have not only scripted a success story but are a vibrant and rapidly growing political entity that has successfully spread its wings as both federal and provincial lawmakers.

Born in Duncan, Moe  - Munmohan Singh - Sihota has been the second generation politician of Indian origin who served on the BC Cabinet in different capacities before heading the BC NDP.

“Immigrants from South Asia take more interest in politics back home than flex their

political sinews in the new countries of their domicile. They, somehow, do not get assimilated in their new political environments.” This observation, made by one of the scholars-cum-writers on the Indian diaspora about 30 years ago, must now be revised.

The Indo-Canadian politicians are now more into Canadian politics at all levels – from municipal to federal – than remaining involved in politics back home.  Their diminishing interest in politics back home was evident from their token presence in the last Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections in which Aam Aadmi Party, a new entrant to the political arena of the State, recorded a landslide win capturing  92 of 117 seats.

What started as a single seat in the British Columbia Provincial Parliament in October 1986 has now spread to five Provincial Parliaments that have several politicians of Indian descent as members. The latest on the list is Saskatchewan which had in 2020 elected its first Indo-Canadian Gary Grewal from Regina. Incidentally, the election to the Saskatchewan Assembly was also announced today. Besides sitting MPP (MLA)Gary Grewal, several other candidates of Indian descent are expected to be in the fray.

The Indo-Canadians are now fielding  45 candidates for the ensuing elections to the British Columbia Provincial Parliament on October 19. The candidates are Sarah Kooner, Amandeep Singh (Abbotsford South), Dharam Kajal (Burnaby Centre), Reah Arora and Tara Shushtarian (Burnaby East), Raj Chauhan and Deepak Suri (Burnaby New Westminster), Ravi Kahlon, M. Khan and Raj Verauli (Delta North), Kamal Grewal (Kamloops Centre),  Harpreet Badohal (Kelowna-Mission), Sam Atwal (Katenay Rockies), Ravi Parmar (Langford-Highlands), Harman Bhangu (Langley-Abbotsford), Jody Toor (Langley-Willowbrook), Sam Chandola and Subhadarshi Tripathi (North Vancouver), Aman Singh (Richmond-Queensborough), Amna Shah, Zeeshan Wahla (Surrey City Centre), Mandeep Dhaliwal, Kiran Hundal, Hobby Nijjar, Sim Sandhu and Rachna Singh (Surrey North), Jagroop Brar and Avtar Gill (Surrey-Fleetwood), Kabir Qurban, HS Randhawa and Manjeet Singh Sahota (Surrey-Guildford), Tegjot Bal, Amrit Birring,  Jagreet Lehal, Joginder Singh Randhawa and Jessie Sunner (Surrey-Newton), Paramjit Rai and Jinny Sims (Surrey-Panorama), Baltej Dhillon (Surrey-Serpentine River), Jag S Sanghera (Vancouver-Fraserview), Nikki Sharma (Vancouver Hastings), Sunita Dhir (Vancouver-Langara), Daryani Singh (Vancouver-Point Grey), Harwinder Sandhu (Vernon-Lumby) and Nina Krieger(Victoria-Swan Lake).

Of these candidates, Ravi Kahlon represented Canada in the Olympic Games hockey competition twice while Jagroop Brar was a national-level basketball player in India before he migrated to Canada.

Interestingly, most of these candidates are second-generation Canadians who are well-qualified professionals, including lawyers, teachers, nurses, engineers and social activists with degrees from top universities in Canada. Only a handful of first-generation politicians will be in the fray for the coming polls.

The growth of Indo-Canadian politicians has been phenomenal. Fourteen years after Moe Sihota was elected to the British Columbia Provincial Parliament, Ujjal Dosanjh earned the distinction of becoming the first Indo-Canadian to take oath as Premier of British Columbia.

The Indo-Canadian community, especially Punjabis, have, since then, not looked back.

Though initial political successes came in British Columbia under the banner of NDP, the Indian-descent politicians jumped on the Liberal bandwagon for rapid strides in Canadian politics.

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