Latest news with #PunjabiCanadian
NDTV
01-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Canada Election 2025: 22 Punjab-Origin Candidates Elected As Canadian MPs
Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. The 2025 Canadian federal elections saw a record 22 Punjabi-origin candidates elected to the House of Commons, comprising over 6% of Parliament. Notable wins included Ruby Sahota and Anita Anand, while NDP leader Jagmeet Singh lost his seat. The 2025 Canadian federal elections have marked a historic milestone for the Punjabi community, with a record 22 candidates of Punjabi origin securing seats in the House of Commons. This impressive representation accounts for over 6% of Canada's parliament, showcasing the growing influence of the Punjabi diaspora in the country's politics. In Brampton, a city known for its strong Punjabi presence, the election results were particularly noteworthy. Five constituencies in Brampton featured candidates with Punjabi names, with both the Liberal and Conservative parties claiming wins. Ruby Sahota, a Liberal, defeated Amandeep Judge, a Conservative, in Brampton North, while Maninder Siddhu, a Liberal, beat Bob Dosanjh, a Conservative, in Brampton East. However, not all Liberal candidates emerged victorious, as Sukhdeep Kang, a Conservative, flipped Brampton South by defeating Sonia Siddhu, a Liberal. Beyond Brampton, other Punjabi Canadian politicians made significant wins. Anita Anand, a former innovation minister, retained her seat in Oakville East, while Bardish Chagger, a veteran politician known for her work on diversity and inclusion, secured a win in Waterloo. Other Liberal winners included Anju Dhillon, Sukh Dhaliwal, Randeep Sarai, and Param Bains. The Conservative Party also saw success with candidates of Punjabi origin, including Jasraj Hallan, Dalwinder Gill, Amanpreet Gill, Arpan Khanna, Tim Uppal, Parm Gill, Sukhman Gill, Jagsharan Singh Mahal and Harb Gill. However, not all prominent Punjabi politicians fared well. Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), lost his seat in Burnaby Central, finishing third and subsequently resigning as NDP president. This unexpected outcome has sent shockwaves through Canada's political landscape. The success of Punjabi Canadians in the 2025 elections reflects the growing clout of the Indian diaspora, particularly the Punjabi Sikh community, in shaping policies in one of the world's most progressive democracies.
CBC
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
As a kid post-9/11, Jasmeet Raina became funny so he wouldn't be seen as a 'threat'
Jasmeet Raina is back with Season 2 of Late Bloomer — his half-hour comedy series inspired by his own life as a turban-wearing Punjabi Canadian millennial. But this time around, in addition to creating, writing and starring in the show, Raina found himself in the director's chair for two episodes. The first episode he directed, "Not My Uncle," follows his younger self at school on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Jasmeet is with his cousin, Neal, as they watch live coverage of the attacks with their classmates. All of a sudden, the kids start to stare at Jasmeet and Neal. Within a couple days, a rumour starts at Jasmeet's school that Osama bin Laden is his uncle. Jasmeet gets into a fight on the basketball court and the other kid says, "What are you going to do, fly a plane into my house now?" WATCH | Jasmeet Raina's full interview with Tom Power: "That episode is in its core about these two cousins," Raina tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview. "We see where they left off at the end of Season 1, and there's been this tension between them…. They're still best friends, cousins, but there's been this underlying tension that they've never really addressed." While Jasmeet and Neal both grew up together in the Sikh community and wear head coverings, Neal is white. Tension develops between them as Jasmeet begins to notice that the expectations placed on his cousin seem to be different than those placed on him. "I was 11 when 9/11 happened," Raina says. "I just started a new school, it was middle school, and I was excited…. Then 9/11 happens and everything just switches up, even the racism. Before it was just casual, funny … and then all of a sudden you're associated with terrorism." After the Sept. 11 attacks there was a sharp increase in Islamaphobic hate crimes, but Sikh people — who were being misidentified — became targets as well. WATCH | Official trailer for Season 2 of Late Bloomer: "For a lot of kids around my age, myself included, we lost a bit of innocence there," Raina says. "It forced us to grow up and adapt a survivor mentality very fast at a very young age. My route, I think, was like, OK, I got to be likable. I got to be not seen as a threat. So I kind of became funny in a sense. It took a while for me to get there. I was angry. I was bitter. And then I was like, 'I can't be angry and bitter. I'm just going to start being funny in class, and people can understand that there isn't a threat level here.'" Drawing on his real-life experiences, Raina says he had to carefully pick and choose the moments that would best serve the story in Late Bloomer. "You can only fit so much in an episode," he says. "I know a lot of Sikh kids that went through the exact same situations and exact same remarks and exact same tension. They faced the same type of thing … so, yeah, it was a pretty universal experience, I think, for not just Sikh kids, but kids of colour, kids of immigrants, brown kids in general."
