Punjab: Carney won the Canada elections, 22 Punjabis also won

Punjab: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party has won the federal election, marking a stunning turnaround in the party’s fortunes, prompted by US President Donald Trump’s threats of annexation and a trade war. Carney, an economist and newcomer to politics, won despite forecasts earlier this year of a landslide Conservative victory. Of the 343 seats, the Liberals won 168, the Conservatives 144, the Bloc Québécois 23, the NDP seven and the Green Party one. A record 22 Punjabis, mostly Sikhs, were also elected in the April 28 election. Eighteen Punjabis won in 2021 and 20 in 2019. In Brampton, Punjabis won five seats. Liberal Party’s Ruby Sahota, Maninder Sidhu and Amandeep Sohi defeated their Conservative rivals Amandeep Judge, Bob Dosanjh and Taran Chahal from Brampton North, East and Centre respectively. Conservative candidates Sukhdeep Kang and Amarjit Gill defeated Conservative candidates Sonia Sidhu and Kamal Khera (current minister) from Brampton South and West.

Key Liberal winners include Anita Anand from Oakville East, Bardish Chagger from Waterloo, Anju Dhillon from Dorval Lachine, Sukh Dhaliwal from Surrey Newton, Ikwinder Singh Gahir from Mississauga Malton, Randeep Sarai from Surrey Centre, Gurbax Saini from Fleetwood Port Kells and Param Bains from Richmond East Steveston. From the Conservative Party, Jasraj Hallan won from Calgary East, Dalwinder Gill from Calgary McKnight, Amanpreet Singh Gill from Calgary Skyview, Arpan Khanna from Oxford, Tim Uppal from Edmonton Gateway, Param Gill from Milton East, Sukhman Gill from Abbotsford South Langley, Jagsharan Singh Mahal from Edmonton Southeast and Herb Gill from Windsor West. Amanpreet Gill, who hails from Moga, is the former president of the Gurdwara Dashmesh Cultural Centre in Calgary. However, in a major upset, New Democratic Party president and two-time MP Jagmeet Singh lost badly to Liberal Party’s Wade Chang from Burnaby Central. He finished third. He also resigned from the post of NDP chief after his defeat. While Jagmeet got about 18.1 per cent votes, Chang got 42.1 per cent and Conservative candidate James Yan got 38.7 per cent votes. Health Minister and two-time MP Kamal Khera is another significant loser. Liberal candidate from Edmonton Southeast Amarjeet Sohi, who had been serving as Edmonton’s mayor since 2021, also lost. He had taken unpaid leave from city council to contest the federal election and had promised to return to his role as mayor if he lost. “This is not the result we expected, but it is the result we accept. People make decisions. They choose you and sometimes they don’t. That’s democracy,” said Sohi, who lost to Conservative candidate Mahal. Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, won for the third time and is likely to get a role in the cabinet again. Lawyer Anju Dhillon became the first Indo-Canadian to win a seat three times in the French-speaking province of Quebec. Three Indo-Canadians were elected to Parliament for the first time in 1993. One of them was Gurbax Singh Malhi, the first turbaned Sikh MP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Carney on his victory and said he looked forward to strengthening bilateral ties and opening up greater opportunities for the people of both countries.