BRAMPTON: Twentynine-year-old Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, who was one of the seven Indo-Canadians elected to the Ontario Provincial Parliament in June, is the first turbaned Sikh to serve in any Ontario government.
As Parliament Assistant to Ontario’s Minister for Community Safety and Correctional Services, young Sarkaria serves in the biggest Ontario ministry in terms of manpower.
“Our ministry accounts for over 20 percent to all government workforce in Ontario we are in charge of the Ontario Provincial Police and all police legislation, jails and issues related crime and community safety across the province,’’ says Sarkaria who got the job after winning the Brampton South riding (constituency) in the June election.
Sarkaria, whose family comes from Gumtala in Amritsar, was a successful corporate lawyer with Canada’s top law firm Miller Thomson LLP before he took the plunge in politics.
“Actually, politics is an extension of my charity work that I have been involved in for many years. Six years ago, we established Hockey for Humanity for human rights which holds annual hockey tournament and donates proceeds to the cause of human rights,’‘ says Sarkaria.
The young politician has also been instrumental in the start of the non-profit KarmaGrow which raises crops and donates then to seva food banks and gurdwaras.
“We started KarmaGrow five years ago. People give us free land and we volunteer to grow crops and then donate them to food banks,’’ he says.
As a newly elected lawmaker, he says he is worried about the youth and gun violence in Brampton and Toronto.“Our government is determined to address the problem. We have just announced $25 million to combat gun violence and we want to see that those who perpetuate violence stay behind bars.’’
Unlike many Indo-Canadian politicians, Sarkaria says he never ever encountered any racism while growing up. “I grew up in the small town of Orangeville which had only a couple of Indian families back then. I was the only turbaned student in our school, but I never faced any problems. It was a small private school where everybody knew everybody else.’’
Sarkaria says his father immigrated to Canada in 1980. “Just like most new immigrants to Canada, my father also drove taxis and worked in factories in his early early years as an immigrant. In 1986, he bought a hotel in Orangeville. He also married my mom – who was already in Canada – the same year.’’
Proud of his heritage and fluent in Punjabi, Sarkaria says he and his family have maintained links with his ancestral place over the years. “My parents go to India every year and we have a kothi near Central Jail in Amritsar. I used to go to Punjab every two years, but now I haven’t been there for four. Hopefully, I will be there this year or the next year. I would love to spend some time there.’’
The newly elected lawmaker says he would endevour to forge closer relations between Punjab and Ontario.
“My city Brampton has a huge connection to Punjab because a big portion of its population has roots there. We are open to increasing business between Punjab and Ontario. We are ready to explore all opportunities,’’ says Sarkaria.
He says he is open to discussing Brampton’s sister-city relationship with any Punjab city and an Ontario trade office – on the lines of British Columbia’s in Bengaluru and Quebec’s in Mumbai – in Punjab.
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