Record 14 Punjab-origin candidates make it to British Columbia assembly
However, there was no clear winner in the election with the incumbent left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), in power for seven years, winning 40 seats and leading in six while the right-leaning Conservative Party won 40 and was leading in five.
As many as 14 candidates with roots in Punjab were elected to the 93-member British Columbia assembly on Sunday.
This marks the highest-ever representation by the community. In the last elections, nine Punjab-origin candidates had been elected.
However, there was no clear winner in the election with the incumbent left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), in power for seven years, winning 40 seats and leading in six while the right-leaning Conservative Party won 40 and was leading in five. The Green Party which won two seats is likely to play a key role as 47 seats are required to form a government. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp said the result could depend on out-of-district votes and mail-in ballots, with the latter not due to be fully counted until Oct. 26.
Prominent winners included the NDP’s former housing minister Ravi Kahlon, former attorney-general Niki Sharma, Raj Chauhan, Jagrup Brar, Sunita Dhir, Ravi Parmar, Jessie Sunner, Reah Arora and Harwinder Sandhu.
For the Conservative Party, Honveer Randhawa, Jody Toor, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Harman Bhangu and Steve Kooner made it to the assembly.
Jagrup Brar, a minister in the NDP government, has made it to the assembly for the seventh time. Brar, who hails from Bathinda, won from Surrrey-Fleetwood and was minister of state for trade.
Kahlon, a former hockey player who has represented Canada twice in the Olympics, won from Delta North seat.
Veteran Raj Chauhan maintained his winning record, securing the Burnaby-Westminister seat.
Sunita Dhir won from Vancouver-Langara, while Jessie Sunner secured the Surrey-Newton seat for NDP.
Conservative Party’s Mandeep Dhaliwal defeated NDP’s Rachna Singh in Surrey-North, while Harman Singh Bhangu won in Langley-Abbotsford.
Honveer Singh Randhawa, a lawyer by profession, secured the Surrey-Guildford seat for the Conservative Party. The Conservatives, who benefited from voter fatigue with the NDP government, promised to scrap a longstanding tax on carbon emissions and clean fuel standards and also expand the liquefied natural gas export industry. The result could mirror that of the 2017 election when the Green Party held the balance of power after neither of the main parties won a majority. The then Liberal Party won more seats, but the NDP took power after signing a deal with the Greens.
With inputs from Agencies