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The role of Punjabis is important as it helped the Liberals go past the 170 mark needed for a simple majority.
A painful chapter in the history of Punjabi migration is the Komagata Maru episode when a shipload of Punjabis was stopped from landing in Canada in 1914 and sent back from Vancouver. Harsh immigration laws had ensured that only 24 of the 376 people on board disembarked. As the rest returned to the Calcutta port, the British fired at them, killing 19.
Little over 100 years later, exactly 19 Canadians of Indian origin have been elected to the Canadian parliament late on Monday night. This is the highest ever presence of MPs with Indian roots in the House of Commons in Canada. As many as 17 are of Punjabi origin. In 2011, only eight Indian-origin MPs were elected to the House of Commons all of whom were Punjabis.
The result was historic in more ways than one for the Canadians as Justin Trudeau-led Liberals ended nearly 10 years of Conservative party rule. Fifteen or 8.15% of his 184 MPs are Punjabis. Indian-Canadians make up over 3% of Canada's population of about 35 million.
The role of Punjabis is important as it helped the Liberals go past the 170 mark needed for a simple majority.
Among sitting MPs, Conservative Deepak Obhrai from Calgary Forest Lawn in Alberta province was the only Punjabi-origin candidate to retain his seat. The losers included multiculturalism minister Tim Uppal, who lost to another Punjabi Amarjit Sohi of the Liberals by a mere 80 votes.
"This victory is about inclusion, cohesiveness, where we build strong communities," Sohi told a daily. "Canada is where someone like me can come from somewhere else, build a new life, raise my family and contribute back so immensely."
Sohi was arrested in 1988 in Bihar under TADA for his alleged links with Naxals and released in 1990 following court orders.
"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," Obhrai, who won a seventh term, told the Calgary Sun.
Compared to the 24 candidates of Punjabi-origin in the previous general elections in 2011, this time 43 were in the fray, including one independent. There were 11 constituencies where Punjabi-origin candidates from either of the three main parties, Liberal, Conservative and NDP, were pitted against each other.
In the 2011 federal polls, there wasn't a single Punjabi-origin candidate of the Liberal party who made it to parliament. From just 36 in 2011, Liberals have 184 MPs in a house of 338 this time.
In Punjabi-dominated Brampton district of Ontario, all five seats were won by the candidates from the community. Overall in Ontario province, Punjabi-origin candidates, all Liberals, won eight seats. Even in west Canada, four Punjabi-origin candidates of the Liberal party won in British Columbia province where also the Punjabi community has a strong presence. Sukh Dhaliwal of the Liberals defeated sitting MP Jinny Sims of NDP to get elected from Surrey-Newton riding.
Liberals sweep Canada polls with Punjabi help - The Times of India
