Punjabi-origin candidates set record with 14 seats in British Columbia

“A lot of people worked hard today to pull the vote,” Sharma told the Vancouver Sun. “I think we knew it was a tight race coming in.”

Minister of state for trade, Jagrup Brar, made a record by winning Surrey-Fleetwood for the seventh time. Born in Bathinda, Punjab, Brar was part of India’s national basketball team. He moved to Canada to study at the University of Manitoba, where he earned a master’s degree in public administration. Brar later moved to Surrey, British Columbia, where he worked in career and entrepreneurship development for non-profit organisations, including as executive director of the Surrey Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society.

Veterans who secured their seats included Raj Chauhan, who won the Burnaby-Westminster seat for the sixth time, maintaining an undefeated record since 2005.

The NDP’s Sunita Dhir took Vancouver-Langara, a Liberal stronghold for over 30 years. Dhir, who supports new students by teaching them English, won with 48.2 per cent of the vote, just ahead of the Conservative candidate.

NDP’s Jessie Sunner win the Surrey-Newton following in the footsteps of former MLA and labour minister Harry Bains, 72, who held the seat since 2005 before retiring from politics in July. Like Bains, Sunner is also a young lawyer and was stoutly supported by Bains.

The youngest MLA, NDP’s Ravi Parmar, 30, won from the newly carved-out seat of Langford-Highlands. Parmar secured 51 per cent of the vote. He says his entry into politics was inspired by his parents’ struggles after migrating to Canada in the 1990s to work in the healthcare sector.

A major upset was the defeat of education minister Rachna Singh, who lost to Conservative Party leader Mandeep Dhaliwal in Surrey-North. Dhaliwal, a former national-level kabaddi player from Punjab, came to Canada in his 20s and now runs a small auto parts business. He gained attention by raising $100,000 for Khalsa Aid through a record-setting motorcycle ride from Canada to India.

Jinny Sims, another Indian-origin candidate, lost in Surrey-Panorama.

Reah Arora won in Burnaby East. Arora, who grew up in Burnaby’s Westridge neighbourhood, is currently the Director of Organizing at the BC Federation of Labour.

Harwinder Kaur Sandhu secured Vernon-Monashee for the second time in a row. A mother of three, Harwinder lost her first husband to cancer. Before her election, she worked as a registered nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital and was active in the BC Nurses’ Union. She also led the Provincial Chair of the Mosaic of Colour Caucus.

Harman Singh Bhangu won in Langley-Abbotsford. Bhangu, who describes himself as an “aggregate hauler,” manages contracts and operations in the construction industry and has 15 years of experience in heavy-load trucking. He is also a longtime minor league football coach.

Conservative leader Honveer Singh Randhawa, a lawyer, bagged Surrey-Guildford. Newcomer Jody Toor, owner of an integrative holistic clinic, won the Langley seat.

Steve Kooner from the Conservative Party won the Richmond-Queensborough seat. Kooner, who was born in Vancouver and runs a law firm, often speaks fondly about his father who was a well-known Punjabi recording artist in the 1980s.

This election saw two main contenders—the incumbent NDP and the rising Conservative Party—vying for control of the 93 seats in contention. A party needs at least 47 seats to form a majority government. The campaign focused on healthcare, cost of living, and public safety.

The results have given the NDP two more seats in Vancouver than the nine they won in 2020.