She was honored in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the promotion of Punjabi language, culture and global representation of the Punjabi community
NEW YORK / PHAGWARA (TIP): Former Canadian Member of Parliament Ruby Dhalla was honored with the prestigious ‘Dhee Punjab Di’ Award during a special ceremony held in Phagwara on Sunday, November 30, 2025. The award was presented by the Punjabi Kala and Sahit Centre and Sangeet Darpan in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the promotion of Punjabi language, culture and global representation of the Punjabi community.
Speaking at the event, Principal Gurmeet Singh Palahi, president of the Punjabi Columnist Journalist Manch (Regd.), said that the Punjabi diaspora across the world has achieved remarkable success through dedication and hard work in various fields. He noted that Ruby stands out as an inspiring example among these achievers, having been elected four times as a Member of Parliament on the ticket of the Liberal Party of Canada. Dr Akshita Gupta, Commissioner of Phagwara Municipal Corporation, congratulated Dhalla on receiving the award and commended her for bringing honor to women at an international level.
Expressing gratitude, Ruby said she felt proud to have dedicated her life to social service through politics, always prioritizing the welfare of Punjabis as well as the people of Canada. She stated that she has consistently advocated for the rights of the needy, the elderly and all those who face challenges and marginalization in society.
She was honored with a commemorative memento, a traditional robe of honor (siropa) and a set of books by the Punjabi Kala and Sahit Centre. Members of the Banga Road Market Association also presented her with a special honor.
OTTAWA (TIP): “I just found it ironic that all the people that are running as candidates wanting to be the leader have spent the last 10 years creating and developing all of these policies,” says Ruby Dhalla while taking forward her Liberal Party leadership campaign on an aggressive note.
Without naming any of her rival candidates, she says that “the people that broke the system certainly cannot fix it” maintaining that the “Liberal Party is broken. We must clean up the system.” She claims she is the only contestant with no connection to outgoing PM Justin Trudeau.
Ruby Dhalla, the three times MP representing Brampton-Springdale riding from 2004 to 2011, is staging a political comeback.
“Canada’s comeback starts now,” she says in her message on social media handles. “The first act that I would do as the leader of the party is to ensure that we get back towards the center, to the right of center, because I think that is the need of the hour,” she said.
Describing herself as a “trailblazer, hotelier, philanthropist [and] motivational speaker” on her X page while touting her political and business experience, she adds: “As a self-made businesswoman, I believe that I have a great understanding of the struggles and the sacrifices that business owners and entrepreneurs in our country are facing.”
Her latest post on Instagram says: “I am Ruby Dhalla and I’m running because we must beat Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives. I started off as a volunteer with the party at the age of 14 and today I am running to leave the Liberal Party and become Canada’s next Prime Minister,” she says holding that “the Liberal Party is broken. We must clean up the system. The people that broke the system certainly cannot fix it. The time for change is now. The time for real change is now, and together we can make it happen.
“So, I invite all of my fellow Canadians and members of the Liberal Party to join me because we can make this happen together. Let’s bring our party back to the center so that we can stand up for Canadians and fight for Canada. Please join me and sign up and vote for Ruby Dhalla. Canada’s comeback starts now.
“And when I took a look at all of the candidates that we’re running, I just found it ironic that all the people that are running as candidates wanting to be the leader have spent the last 10 years creating and developing all of these policies,” said her post. Meanwhile, all seven contestants have aggressively campaigned while conducting membership recruitment drives. The Election Office of the Liberal Party will register new members on January 27.
“The Liberal Party of Canada is ready to run a secure, fair, and robust leadership race that will engage and energize our grassroots supporters across the country,” said Sachit Mehra, President of the Liberal Party of Canada. “This is an exciting time for the Liberal Party, and I encourage anyone wanting to join our movement to register as a Liberal by January 27, 2025.”
The Leadership Expense Committee has decided that an individual candidate can spend a maximum of $5 million and have a debt limit of no more than $200,000 at any given time throughout the leadership race.
The committee also wants the contestants to meet the financial requirements outlined in the election notice. The fee for entering the leadership race is Can$350,000, which hopefuls can pay in three instalments by February 17 at the latest.
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)
It was not easy. The early migrants from South Asia were not welcome to Canada. They not only suffered numerous hardships but were also denied the right for a decent living. They had no voting rights. In fact, the concept of the Nagar Kirtan processions, or the Sikh Parades, proved to be an effective tool for the overseas Sikh community to introduce itself as a peaceful and hard-working group that had no qualms of making countries of their present abode as their homes. The first ever-Sikh Parade or Nagar Kirtan procession was organized on January 19, 1908, along Second Avenue in Vancouver.
It has been this commitment that has helped them to script an unprecedented success story the world over. Though the Punjabis – initially described as Hindus – started reaching Canada in early 1900, they were denied voting rights in British Columbia from 1907 onwards. They had to wait for 40 long years to win back the right to vote. In 1947, the requirement to be a voter was changed to Canadian citizenship in addition to being a British subject. It was in 1950 that the first Sikh – Naranjan Singh Grewall – was elected to the City Council of Mission in British Columbia.
He became the first “Hindu” (the colloquial term for South Asians at the time) elected to any political position in Canada. Later, he became the first South Asian migrant to become Mayor of the Mission City Council in 1954. Grewall’s run for a seat in the BC Legislature as a member of the CCF surprised no one. He was first and foremost a man of the people. He lost the assembly election in a close battle.
The Indo-Canadian community was waiting for the break Naranjan Singh Grewall had provided. Once the process of its assimilation in mainstream politics started, the Punjabi migrant community set its goals high. And before the turn of the century, it had three of its nominees – Gurbax Malhi, Herb Dhaliwal, and Jag Bhaduria – sitting in the House of Commons in Ottawa.
And long before their journey to Ottawa started, the beginning, though unsuccessful, was made in late 60s and early 70s. In 1970, a new party was born. It was headed by an Indo-Canadian. Called Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), it was founded by Hardial Singh Bains, a trained Bacteriologist. Born in Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur, Hardial moved to Vancouver when he was 19. Much before Jagmeet Singh became the President of the NDP, Hardial Singh Bains had earned the distinction of leading a national political party in Canada.
After studying in Canada, England, and Ireland, Hardial Singh Bains returned to Canada and spearheaded the workers movement. Since Elections Canada does not allow the use of the word “communist” in the name of any party, Hardial Singh Bains got his party registered as Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada in 1974. Before his death in 1997, the Marxist-Leninist Party contested the 1974, 1979, 1980, 1993 and 1997 federal elections. Though the party has never succeeded in sending any of its members to the House of Commons, it fielded its largest number of candidates,177, in 1980. Many of these candidates were migrants, including those from India. Amarjit Dhillon, who was the party candidate from Vancouver South, both in 1979 and 1980, polled only 91 and 63 votes. Overall, though the party never aggregated 0.20 per cent of total votes polled, still it never gave up its fight and contested the last federal elections in 2021 by fielding 36 candidates.
It was in 1974 when Hari Singh, a teacher, contested on Liberal ticket from Okanagan-Kootenay. Though it was a Liberal stronghold, but Hari Singh lost. After his defeat, he accused the majority community of Liberals of voting against him. Subsequently, the Liberals retained the seat.
Ten years later in 1984, another teacher, Harkirpal Singh Sora, contested from Vancouver South. He too was unsuccessful. Deepak Obhrai was the longest serving MP from Calgary East. Long before he emerged on the scene, in 1988 this riding had tried to elect Anil Giga, a Liberal, to the House of Commons. He, however, was defeated by Alex Kindy by 18,227 votes. The Bramalea-Gore-Malton Riding has always remained a stronghold of the Punjabi migrants. The first attempt by the community to get into the House of Commons was in 1988, when the Liberals put up Gurjit Grewal, who lost by 2,185 votes to Harry Chadwik of the CP.
Palbinder Shergill, a young amritdhari Sikh and a practicing lawyer, was one of the first Punjabi women to contest federal elections. She was unsuccessful along with another Punjabi Indo-Canadian candidate from the Surrey Central Riding. The other candidate was Charan Gill who had earlier made an attempt to get into the House of Commons in 1988 but was defeated by Benno Friesen of the PC. He represented the NDP.
Sikh Turban has become an integral part of Canadian Parliament
Two turbaned Sikh politicians – one from yesteryear, and another from now – Gurbax Singh Malhi and Jagmeet SinghJagmeet Singh
October 25, 1993 would go down in the annals of history of the Canadian House of Commons as a golden letter day. It was on this day that Canada earned the distinction of electing the first turbaned Sikh MP to any Parliament outside India. The honor went to Gurbax Singh Malhi as he was declared successful from Bramalea-Gore-Malton riding. Though two more MPs of Indian origin – Harbance (Herb) Singh Dhaliwal and Jagdish Bhaduria – also made their debut in the Canadian House of Commons simultaneously, the spotlight was on Gurbax Singh Malhi. Since then, no Canadian Parliament has been complete without a turbaned Sikh represented on it.
Starting with three MPs in 1993, now the Indo-Canadian community has grown six times in its strength in the House of Commons. It represents all three major parties – the ruling Liberals, the main Opposition party the Conservatives, and the third major party NDP headed by an Indo-Canadian Jagmeet Singh. Incidentally, Jagmeet Singh is the lone Indo-Canadian NDP in the current House of Commons.
Of 42 MPs of Indian origin elected to House of Commons since 1993, Navdeep Singh Bains, Tim Uppal, Jagmeet Singh, Randeep Sarai, Harjit Singh Sajjan, Darshan Singh Kang, Raj Grewal, Jasraj Singh Hallan and Iqwinder Singh Gaheer, are among those who earned special limelight because of their colorful turbans.
Incidentally, Gurbax Singh Malhi has till date remained the longest serving Sikh MP representing the Liberals. He was elected five times starting in 1993 till he lost the 2011 elections. Otherwise, Deepak Obhrai, who was born in Tanzania, earned the distinction of longest serving Canadian MP of Indian origin. He retained his House of Commons seat for seven consecutive terms mostly as a nominee of Conservatives.
While Gurbax Singh Malhi, Jag Bhaduria and Herb Dhaliwal were the first representatives of Liberals in Canadian Parliament, the honor for giving representation to Indo-Canadians in the House of Commons on behalf of Conservatives went to Deepak Obhrai and Gurmant Grewal. Subsequently, Jasbir Singh Sandhu and Jinny Jogindera Sims were the first Indo Canadians to represent NDP in the Canadian Parliament.
Women of Indo-Canadian descent did not take along to reach Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. Ruby Dhalla (Liberal from Ontario) and Nina Grewal (Conservative from British Columbia) became the torch bearers. They were followed by Jinny Jogindera Sims (NDP).
Sonia Sidhu, Ruby Sahota, Kamal Khera, Bardish Chagger and Anju Dhillon created ripples when they all made their entry into the 42nd Parliament and are all continuing in the current 44th Parliament. In the 43rd Parliament they were joined by Anita Anand, the first Indo-Canadian woman politician to hold the important portfolio of Defense. Also, a new entrant was Jag Sahota, the ninth woman of Indian origin to enter Canadian Parliament.
These Canadian MPs of Indian origins have several other firsts to their credit. For example, Gurmant Singh Grewal and Nina Grewal were the first couple to sit in the same House. Herb Dhaliwal was the first from the group to be inducted in the Canadian Cabinet as a Minister for Oceans. Many of them have remained Parliamentary Secretaries attached with important ministries.
In the previous Liberal Government, Harjit Singh Sajjan, became the toast of not only the Indo-Canadian community but also of the rapidly growing Indian Diaspora after he was named the Defense Minister of Canada.
Bardish Chagger hawked media headlines on becoming the first woman leader of the House of Commons. And late last year, Anita Anand stole the limelight as the first Indo-Canadian woman to hold the portfolio of Defense Minister. Incidentally, the last two Liberal Governments had an Indo-Canadian as Defense Minister.
There have been Indo-Canadians who created history both in provincial and federal politics. The shining example has been of Ujjal Dosanjh who after his phenomenal rise as the first Indo-Canadian Premier of British Columbia later held the portfolio of the Canadian Health Minister. A couple of MPs, including Jinny Jogendra Sims and Parm Gill, later made their debut in provincial politics and held positions as Cabinet Ministers in British Columbia and Ontario, respectively. Amarjit Sohi, who held an important cabinet portfolio in the previous Justin Trudeau government is now a Mayor of Edmonton in Alberta since last year.
MPs of Indian origin
Gurbax Singh Malhi
Harbance (Herb) Singh Dhaliwal
Jag Bhaduria
Deepak Obhrai
Gurmant Grewal
Rahim Jaffer
Nina Grewal
Ruby Dhalla
Ujjal Dosanjh
Navdeep Bains
Sukh Dhaliwal
Tim Uppal
Jinny Jogindera Sims
Devinder Shory
Jasbir Sandhu
Bal Gosal
Parm Gill
Joe Daniel
Amarjit Sohi
Jagmeet Singh
Gagan Sikand
Sonia Sidhu
Jati Sidhu
Bob Saroya
Randeep Singh Sarai
Ramesh Sangha
Harjit Singh Sajjan
Raj Saini
Ruby Sahota
Kamal Khera
Darshan Singh Kang
Raj Grewal
Anju Dhillon
Bardish Chagger
Chandra Arya
Maninder Sidhu
Jag Sahota
Jasraj Sigh Hallan
Anita Anand
Iqwinder Singh Gaheer
George Chahal
Parm Bains
-To be concluded
(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows. For more in-depth analysis please visit probingeye.com or follow him on Twitter.com/probingeye. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)
Signup to our Newsletter!
Don’t miss out on all the happenings around the world
