Canadian election: Indians already winner

At least 30 people of Indian origin, majority of whom trace their roots to Punjab, are in the fray for the Canadian general election, voting...

At least 30 people of Indian origin, majority of whom trace their roots to Punjab, are in the fray for the Canadian general election, voting for which is scheduled for January 23.

Both the major Canadian political parties—the ruling Liberal Party and the main opposition Conservative Party—have gone out of their way to nominate members of the Indian community for the 39th general election.

While the Liberals have fielded 10 candidates of Indian origin, the Conservatives have nominated 12 for elections to the 308-member House of Commons. This is a recognition of the increasing influence Indians enjoy in Canadian politics. In some constituencies, almost all the contestants are Indians, that too Punjabi.

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Leading the list of the Indian-Canadians in the fray is Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, who is seeking re-election from Vancouver South in British Columbia as a Liberal candidate. The other important Liberal candidates include Ruby Dhalla, who is considered close to Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Gurbax Singh Malhi and Navdeep Singh Bains.

At least half the Indian-Canadian candidates are in fray from parliamentary constituencies in Ontario or the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to be precise. The GTA is estimated to have over 2,00,000 South Asians, three-fourth of whom are Indians. The youngest of the Indian politicians is Ajay Krishnan. Just 23, Krishnan is the Green Party candidate from Whitby-Oshawa in Ontario.

The Conservative Party, which is aiming to oust the Liberals from power has fielded as many as eight Indian-Canadians in Ontario alone. Among the important Conservative candidates are Deepak Obhrai, who is trying to enter Canadian Parliament for the fourth term from Calgary East in Alberta, and Nina Grewal, who was elected for the first time in 2004 from Fleetwood-Port Kells in British Columbia.

Another major Canadian political party, the New Democratic Party (NDP), has fielded four Indian-Canadians from Ontario. They are Rupinder Brar, Nirvan Balkissoon, Jagtar Shergill and Anwar Naqvi. The story of Naqvi is interesting. He was born in India but moved to Pakistan later on. He had to spend several years in prison for raising his voice against military rule. After his release, he migrated to Canada.

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Interestingly, many of these candidates were Indian citizens till not very long back—Jagtar Shergill, who is contesting on an NDP ticket from Brampton West, was an Indian citizen till 15 years ago. This many say reflects how Canada assimilates its immigrants.