Only three of 35 Punjabis win Brampton elections

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 23

In a major setback for Punjabi-origin candidates in Canada, only three of the nearly three dozen candidates in the fray registered victories in high-voltage Brampton civic elections held yesterday. In all, 128 candidates were in the fray.

Right-wing sympathiser and sitting Mayor of “Mini Punjab” Linda Jeffrey was defeated by prominent Progressive Conservative Party (PCP) leader Patrick Brown. Jeffrey was being backed by Sikh radicals.

Balbir Sohi, a dental hygiene professional and social worker, wrested the prestigious position of the Trustee of the Peel District School Board. Sohi polled 4,986 votes (21.98 per cent) of the total 22,686 in wards 9 and 10.  Incumbent Gurpreet Dhillon defeated Vicky Dhillon, a Brampton city councillor for eight years till 2014, in a keen contest for Regional Councillor in wards 9 and 10. He polled 14,330 votes (55.46 per cent) against Vicky Dhillon’s 5,238 (20.27 per cent). Harkirat Singh was elected as Brampton City councillor, polling 10,804 votes (42.87 per cent) against his nearest rival Michael Farquharson’s 4,629 votes in wards 9 and 10.

For the mayoral post, former minister Baljit Gosal, the lone Punjabi in the race, polled 5,319 (5.04 per cent) votes against 46,894 (44.43 per cent) polled by Patric Brown and 42,993 votes (40.73 per cent) by nearest rival Linda Jeffery. While a sizeable chunk of Sikh radicals were supporting Jeffery, a majority of Hindus, particularly those from Gujarat, had thrown their weight behind Brown.

Bramptonians elected the Mayor, five city councillors (each representing two wards), five regional councillors (each representing two wards) and a Trustee for the Peel District School Board. One trustee for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board was also elected but none of the members from the Punjabi diaspora participated in its election.