Brampton, Ontario, September 21: Canadians handed 49-year-old Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party a victory in Monday’s parliamentary elections, but his attempt to win a majority of seats failed.
The Liberals won most seats of any party. Trudeau’s Liberals were leading or elected in 156 seats one less than they won in 2019, and 14 short of the 170 needed for a majority in the House of Commons, according to Canadian media reports.
This is Trudeau’s third federal election win, but his critics say the poll was a waste of time.
Indo-Canadians have always played a big role in the country’s politics.
While popular faces include Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan from Vancouver and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh from Burnaby South, come Punjabi-origin women have also made a mark for themselves once again.
Of the more prominent women leaders who have been elected to the 44th Canadian Parliament are Liberal Party’s Kamal Khera from Brampton West (55 per cent), Ruby Sahota from Brampton North (54 per cent), Sonia Sidhu from Brampton South (50 per cent).
Liberal Sonia Sidhu is projected to win the election in her riding Brampton South with more than 19,537 votes as of 1:17 a.m. on Sept. 21, beating out Conservative candidate Ramandeep Brar, who got 11,836 votes.
Sidhu pledged to continue her work in parliament to introduce affordable child care, work to increase support for seniors in Canada, as well as establish a national framework for diabetes, from a private member’s bill that she introduced and has been passed.
As a former health-care worker, her passion for addressing diabetes in Brampton will now aim to help all Canadians.
Liberal Ruby Sahota has been re-elected MP for Brampton North. This is her third term. She beat out Conservative candidate Medha Joshi and the NDP’s Teresa Yeh.
Sahota has promised to advocate for new job creation in Brampton North and support the Liberal’s platform of introducing an affordable child-care program, as well as an extensive set of measures to tackle Canada’s housing crisis.
She said housing affordability, jobs for youth and support for seniors are all key issues that will need to be tackled in the upcoming term.
Liberal Kamal Khera has been reelected in Brampton West. Khera beat out Conservative candidate Jermaine Chambers and the NDP’s Gurprit Gill.
Khera has represented the riding since 2015, when she was part of the Liberal wave which helped sweep Justin Trudeau into the prime minister’s office.
In 2019, Khera romped to victory by almost 30 percentage points, defeating then-Conservative candidate Muralilal Thapliyal 53.5 per cent to 23.9 per cent.
Before entering politics, Khera worked as a registered oncology nurse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Khera has put her professional experience to use, assisting at several community vaccine clinics.
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