Close X
Sunday, January 12, 2025
ADVT 
National

40 Indian-Origin Candidates In Fray In Canada's Federal Election

Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Oct, 2015 01:32 PM
    Forty Indo-Canadians are in the fray in Monday's election to the 338-member parliament on Monday.
     
    There were eight Indo-Canadian MPs in the outgoing 308-member House of Commons. But this could go up this time as the three main parties - the Tories, Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party - have fielded 40 Indo-Canadians, including all the incumbents.
     
    Among the incumbents is the longest-serving Indo-Canadian MP Deepak Obhrai, who is also parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs.
     
    Also in the fray are the outgoing minister of state for sports Bal Gosal and the minister of state for multiculturalism Tim Uppal.
     
    Interestingly, there is a direct fight between Indo-Canadian candidates in as many as 10 constituencies. 
     
    The direct fights are taking places in constituencies - or ridings as they are called - with huge Indo-Canadian population such as Brampton, Surrey, Calgary and Edmonton.
     
    Apart from the 40 Indo-Canadians fielded by the three main parties, a couple of Indo-Canadians are in the fray as independents.
     
    After the longest ever election campaign of 11 weeks in Canadian history, Monday's vote will elect 338 members to the House of Commons - up from 308 in 2011 as 30 more constituencies have been added this time.
     
     
    Numbering about 1.2 million, Indo-Canadians make up more than three percent of Canada's population of about 35 million and have become a significant political force.
     
    Canada elected its first Indian-origin MP in 1993 when turbaned Sikh Gurbax Malhi won from the Toronto-area.
     
    Malhi's election opened the gates for other Indo-Canadians. In fact, current parliamentary secretary Obhrai, first elected in 1997, is seeking his seventh term in the Canadian parliament from Calgary. 
     
    Canada also has the distinction of appointing an Indian-origin person as a full-fledged cabinet minister anywhere in the Western world when Herb Dhaliwal became the federal revenue minister in 1997.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    One Suspect Arrested, Canada-Wide Warrant Issued For Gilbert Theriault In Man's Kidnapping

    One Suspect Arrested, Canada-Wide Warrant Issued For Gilbert Theriault In Man's Kidnapping
    The Mounties are still searching for 43-year-old Gilbert Theriault, who is from the Drummond area of New Brunswick.

    One Suspect Arrested, Canada-Wide Warrant Issued For Gilbert Theriault In Man's Kidnapping

    Canadian Pumpkin Producers Capitalizing On American Jack O' Lantern Shortage

    Canadian Pumpkin Producers Capitalizing On American Jack O' Lantern Shortage
    Some growers in the U.S. have sought help from other states and Canada to make up the shortfall in fresh product caused by a massive disruption during the key June planting season.

    Canadian Pumpkin Producers Capitalizing On American Jack O' Lantern Shortage

    Parents Of Man Linked To Alleged Shooting Plot Want Answers In Son's Death

    Parents Of Man Linked To Alleged Shooting Plot Want Answers In Son's Death
    Police say James Lee Gamble, 19, killed himself in his family's home in the suburb of Timberlea on Feb. 13 as investigators were unravelling an alleged plot by Gamble and two other people to shoot and kill people at a Halifax mall the next day.

    Parents Of Man Linked To Alleged Shooting Plot Want Answers In Son's Death

    U.S. Security Fears Led To Syrian Refugee Case Slowdown In Canada

    U.S. Security Fears Led To Syrian Refugee Case Slowdown In Canada
    OTTAWA — The bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office ordered a security review of Syrian refugee cases this summer as a result of intelligence reports in the U.S. suggesting refugees could pose a threat to that country.

    U.S. Security Fears Led To Syrian Refugee Case Slowdown In Canada

    Case Set Over For Halifax Student Who Allegedly Thought About Killing 20 People

    Case Set Over For Halifax Student Who Allegedly Thought About Killing 20 People
    Stephen Gregory Tynes faces two counts of uttering threats to cause bodily harm and one count of engaging in threatening conduct.

    Case Set Over For Halifax Student Who Allegedly Thought About Killing 20 People

    B.C. Boy, 8, Hit By Commercial Truck, Dies From Injuries In Hospital

    B.C. Boy, 8, Hit By Commercial Truck, Dies From Injuries In Hospital
    Mounties in Hope, B.C, say the accident happened just after noon on Wednesday.

    B.C. Boy, 8, Hit By Commercial Truck, Dies From Injuries In Hospital