The Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, ended the Conservative Party’s nearly 10-year rule with a landslide victory in Canada’s general election on Monday.
In a significant development, the 1.2 million-strong Indo-Canadian community received a big boost, as its representation in parliament more than doubled, from eight to 19.
This is the highest ever presence of members of parliament (MPs) of Indian origin in the Canadian Parliament.
The Big Winners and Losers
Most victories for the community came in the Ontario province, which boasts a sizeable Indian-origin population.
Deepak Obhrai, the longest-serving Indian-origin MP, retained his seat from Calgary Forest Lawn for the seventh time.
I have a strong record both as a representative of the constituency as well as working in government, and in the opposition, over the years I have been in parliament.
Deepak Obhrai to the Calgary Sun
Tim Uppal, the multiculturalism minister, lost his seat to another Punjabi, Amarjit Sohi of the Liberals, by a very narrow margin.
Liberal Anju Dhillon became the first Indian-Canadian to win a seat in Quebec, the French-speaking province, while party compatriot Darshan Kang won the Calgary Skyview seat for the Liberals for the first time in 50 years.
Bal Gosal, the outgoing minister of state for sport, lost to Liberal candidate Ramesh Sangha in the Brampton Center constituency in Ontario. Four-time MP Nina Grewal also lost her seat.
The Punjabi Connect
Of the 19 newly elected MPs, 17 are of Punjabi origin. For the Liberals, the Punjabis are important as they helped the party go past the 170 mark needed for a simple majority; 15 of Trudeau’s 184 MPs are Punjabis.
In the 2011 election only 24 candidates were of Punjabi origin, while this time 43 candidates contested the poll. Additionally, in 11 constituencies Punjabi-origin candidates from either of the three main parties, Liberal, Conservative and NDP, were pitted against each other.
The history of Sikhs in Canada has been a long but tumultuous one.
The earliest Sikh settler is thought to be Kesur Singh, a Risaldar Major in the British Indian Army, who arrived in Canada in 1897. Over the next decade or so, hundreds of other Sikh settlers arrived in the country. Yet, two significant events mark the Sikh-Canadian relationship.
The Komagata Maru incident in 1914 is of particular note. A shipload of Punjabis were stopped from landing in Canada and forced to return to the Calcutta port, where on return, the British fired at them, killing 19.
In the aftermath of Operation Bluestar and following widespread Sikh persecution in India in 1984, Sikhs migrated to Canada in large numbers. Many Sikh protests occurred across Canada in response to the situation in India. The agitation culminated into the bombing of Air India Flight 182, operating on the Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, by Sikh militant group Babar Khalsa. A total of 329 people were killed, including 268 Canadian citizens.
Against this backdrop, the victory of the 19 Indian-origin Canadians is of great importance; though comprising only about 3 per cent of Canada’s population, the community is now well-represented.
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