Montreal Sikh businessman endorses Mark Carney

TORONTO (TIP): After the closing of nominations for the Liberal Party leadership, all aspirants for the top political post have stepped up their campaigns to reach out to the maximum number of party members.

The contestants will traverse through the length and breadth of the country in the coming weeks before a successor to incumbent Justin Trudeau is named in March, a fortnight before the prorogued House of Commons resumes its sitting on March 24.

Endorsements from members of the Cabinet, the Liberal caucus and party members who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents are some of the initial steps that can decipher the success of one of the seven contestants. The contestants of the Liberal leadership race are Chrystia Freeland, Mark Carney, Karina Gould, Chandra Arya, Ruby Dhalla, Jamie Battiste and Frank Bylis. They have taken to their social media handles to enlarge their reach and to regularly update their accounts.

Hardcore supporters of the candidates, too, have been in the super active mode. Captains of industry, trade, businesses, financial institutions and others are working overtime to ensure the success of their respective candidates.

Diplomatic spats between India and Canada notwithstanding, the election of a successor to Justin Trudeau has been generating lot of interest back home in India as two of the contestants – Chandra Arya and Ruby Dhalla – are of Indian descent.

Some of the members of the Liberal caucus, including Sukh Dhaliwal, Parm Bains, Randeep Serai, George Chahal, and Harjit Singh Sajjan, have endorsed Mark Carney. Justice Minister Arif Virani has thrown his weight behind Chrystia Freeland.

Though dominated by the second largest Opposition party, Bloc Quebecois, Quebec, which has produced or supported a substantial number of Prime Ministerial candidates in the past, has been witnessing a beehive of political activity for the ensuing Liberal Party leadership race.

One of the frontrunners for the top post, Mark Carney, launched his campaign from Edmonton, Alberta, and has garnered substantial support from the South Asian community.

In Montreal, a leading businessman, Baljit Singh Chadha hosted a reception for 100 businessmen at his residence for what he described as “the soon-to-be new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney.”

It was Mark Carney’s first meeting in Quebec during his campaign. Baljit Singh Chadha, who immigrated to Canada from Mumbai in the early 70s, shared details of the meeting he organized for the “future Prime Minister of Canada” with his friend back home and former Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh.Baljit Singh Chadha, a leading captain of business in Montreal, has no political affiliations. As a philanthropist, he has established a Sikh Gallery in Montreal Museum.He is President and founder of Balcorp Limited, an international trade and marketing firm and a leader of the Sikh community in Canada. Mr. Chadha immigrated to Canada in 1973 from India to study Business Administration.

His grandfather Sardar Sahib Sardar Mehar Singh Chadha, his father Sardar Jagjit Singh Chadha and his brother Sardar Dilmohan Singh Chadha of San Francisco, USA, have been devoted Sewadars of Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar.

Born in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1951, Mr. Chadha obtained his undergraduate science degree (B.Sc.) at the University of Bombay before immigrating to Canada. He obtained a Diploma in Business Administration (DBA) at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Concordia University in Montreal. He also holds corporate director certification (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Beginning with just a rented desk and 100% borrowed capital, Mr. Chadha founded his own business, Balcorp Limited, in Montreal in 1976, later opening offices in Bombay and New Delhi.

Balcorp is now an international marketer of a broad range of products and services. Mr Chadha is known for his depth of knowledge and expertise in international trade and strategic planning, both within his own company and across the breadth of his growing global business interests.
In 2003, the then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien named him to the Security Intelligence Review Committee, and also to the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada.

(Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto-based award-winning independent journalist. He was celebrated by AIPS, the international body of sports journalists, for covering ten Olympics, at its centennial celebrations held at UNESCO Centre in Paris during the 2024 Olympic Games. Besides, he has written extensively about business and the financial markets, the health industry, the public and private sectors, and aviation. He has worked as a political reporter besides covering Sikh and Punjab politics. He is particularly interested in Indian Diaspora and Sikh Diaspora in particular. His work has also appeared in various international and national newspapers, magazines, and journals. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)