Among the 49 Indo-Canadian candidates, 16 are from the Conservative Party, 15 from the Liberal Party, 12 from Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party (NDP) and six from the far right-wing People’s Party of Canada
The Canadian Bazaar
TORONTO: As many as 49 Indian-origin candidates are in the fray as Canadians go to the polls on Monday to elect a new parliament.
In the last elections in 2019, 20 Indo-Canadians, including 19 Punjabis, were elected as MPs. Four of them – Harjit Sajjan, Navdeep Bains, Bardish Chagger and Anita Anand – became Cabinet ministers.
Among the 49 Indo-Canadian candidates this time in the fray, 16 are from the Conservative Party, 15 from the Liberal Party, 12 from the New Democratic Party (NDP) and six from the People’s Party of Canada.
As in the past, it’s Indo-Canadian versus Indo-Canadian in many ridings in 905 and Metro Vancouver.
In four out of the five constituencies in Brampton, outgoing MPs Maninder Sidhu, Ruby Sahota, Sonia Sidhu and Kamal Khera are pitted against fellow Indo-Canadians Naval Bajaj, Medha Joshi, Ramandeep Brar and Gurprit Gill respectively.
In Alberta, the Calgary Skyview constituency is also witnessing multi-cornered fight among Indo-Canadians – Jag Sahota (Conservative Party), Gurinder Gill (NDP) and George Chahal (Liberal Party).
Surrey in British Columbia is also witnessing multi-cornered fights among Indo-Canadians in Surrey Centre and Surrey-Newton.
Defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan (Liberal) faces fellow Punjabi Sukhbir Gill (Conservative Party) in Vancouver-South.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is also seeking re-election from Burnaby South in BC.
Interestingly, six Indo-Canadians are also contesting for the extreme right- wing People’s Party of Canada which has become the fourth largest party in terms of national support.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election last month to seek a majority in the 338-member House of Commons as his Liberal Party was 13 short of the majority mark of 170.
The latest opinion polls put Trudeau’s Liberal Party and the opposition Conservative Party almost neck and neck, raising the possibility of yet another minority government.
Jagmeet Singh-led New Democratic Party (NDP) is placed third in opinion polls and is likely to improve on its current tally of 24 MPs.
The Maverick Party, the Marijuana Party and the Animal Protection Party of Canada are other fringe parties in the fray.
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