Close X
Saturday, January 11, 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

    Staff, Parents Stop Woman Who Attempted To Abduct Child At Victoria’s George Jay Elementary School

    Staff, Parents Stop Woman Who Attempted To Abduct Child At Victoria’s George Jay Elementary School
    Police say they were called to an elementary school at around 3 p.m. after receiving a report of a woman trying to leave the area with a child who was not hers.

    Staff, Parents Stop Woman Who Attempted To Abduct Child At Victoria’s George Jay Elementary School

    B.C. Coroner Identifies 22-Year-Old Man As David James Of Lillooet In First Nations Office Attack

    B.C. Coroner Identifies 22-Year-Old Man As David James Of Lillooet In First Nations Office Attack
    The BC Coroners Service says David James of Lillooet  died at the Bridge River Indian Band offices on Wednesday morning.

    B.C. Coroner Identifies 22-Year-Old Man As David James Of Lillooet In First Nations Office Attack

    Oil And Gas Industry Struggles To Balance Environmental And Budgetary Pressures

    Oil And Gas Industry Struggles To Balance Environmental And Budgetary Pressures
    Canada's oil and gas industry is facing increased environmental and budgetary pressures, with experts saying the sector is struggling to balance the two.

    Oil And Gas Industry Struggles To Balance Environmental And Budgetary Pressures

    Supreme Court Rules On Tough British Columbia Impaired Driving Law

    Supreme Court Rules On Tough British Columbia Impaired Driving Law
    The high court handed down a pair of judgments Friday, a 6-1 decision and a unanimous 7-0 ruling, that uphold key portions of the law.

    Supreme Court Rules On Tough British Columbia Impaired Driving Law

    The World's Watching Canada: The Baseball Team, Not The Election

    The World's Watching Canada: The Baseball Team, Not The Election
    The Toronto Blue Jays championship run has received five times more international news coverage than the federal election campaign, says a prominent media-monitoring agency.

    The World's Watching Canada: The Baseball Team, Not The Election

    Vancouver Indigenous History Exhibition Wins Governor General's Award

    Vancouver Indigenous History Exhibition Wins Governor General's Award
    The exhibit combines artifacts and new technologies such as 3-D printing at three different locations to tell the story of the ancient Musqueam villages and burial sites that Vancouver was built on.

    Vancouver Indigenous History Exhibition Wins Governor General's Award