British Columbia has 8 NRI MLAs

This is the largest number ever of Indo-Canadian MLAs in the provincial assembly, writes Gurmukh Singh.

Eight Indo-Canadians have won elections to the provincial assembly. Polling to elect the 79-member House was held on Tuesday.

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This is the largest number ever of Indo-Canadian MLAs in the provincial assembly. In the dissolved House, there were six Indo-Canadian MLAs. The Indo-Canadian community constitutes about seven per cent of the provincial population.

Four of the MLAs -- Wally Oppal, Dave Hayer, Sindi Hawkin, and John Nuraney -- belong to the ruling Liberal party and the four -- Jagrup Brar, Raj Chouhan, Harry Lali, and Harry Bains -- represent the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).

The star of the pack is Wally Oppal who was roped in by British Columbian Premier Gordon Campbell from his job of a judge in the British Columbian Supreme Court. He is almost certain to become the next attorney general of the province. The 65-year-old Oppal, who is one of the most respected Indo-Canadians, defeated another Indo-Canadian Ravinder Gill of the NDP in Vancouver -Fraserview.

Dave Hayer, who is the second-term MLA for the ruling Liberal party, has won from the Surrey-Tynehead constituency. Hayer is the son of the slain Indo-Canadian journalist Tara Singh Hayer who founded the first Punjabi newspaper in North America by the name of the Indo-Canadian Times.

Ms Sindi Hawkin (Surinder Ahluwalia), who is one of the two Indo-Canadian women members of the outgoing cabinet, has retained her Kelowna-Mission seat. She, along with Patty Sahota, was a minister of state in the Campbell government. A former nurse, she has been suffering from leukaemia for some time. But Ms Patty Sahota lost this time to another Indo-Canadian Raj Chouhan of the NDP in the Burnaby-Edmond constituency. Chouhan is a known union leader of the health workers union who is credited with organising the immigrant farmers for their rights.

In what was one of the most colourful contests in the province, Harry Bains of the NDP defeated Daniel Igali of the Liberal party. Igali, who comes from Nigeria, is a former Olympic gold medallist in wrestling. After deserting the Nigeria team, which came here for the Commonwealth Games in 1994, he established himself in Canada with the help of Indo-Canadians. Igali is a very good kabaddi player and for his prowess, the Indo-Canadian community calls him Toofan Singh.

Jagrup Brar, who stirred the political scene in the province by winning a by-election last November when he defeated Mary Polak of the ruling Liberal party, retained the seat by trouncing another Indo-Canadian Bob Hans. A well-respected figure in the community, Brar is a former Indian basketball player.

Harry Lali, who was once the transportation minister of British Columbia, returned to politics after a gap and entered the assembly this time on the NDP ticket.

John Nuraney of the Liberal party too retained his seat this time.

Bob Nijjar, the sitting MLA for the ruling Liberal party, lost his seat in Vancouver Kingsway.

This is the second term for the government of Premier Gordon Campbell. In May 2001 election, he had led the Liberal party to a landslide victory over the NDP led by the then Indo-Canadian Premier Ujjal Dosanjh. The NDP was reduced to just two seats while the Liberal party got 77 seats in the 79-member assembly.

However, this time the NDP under James Carole has won 33 seats.

As the results were trickling in, James addressed her supporters in Victoria, saying, ``what an amazing night, what a historic night for the NDP. There will be a lot more New Democrats standing strong, speaking up for their communities and holding this government accountable."

In the 2001 elections, she had lost her seat by 30-odd votes.

Two ministers Joyce Murray and Graham Bruce were among the Liberal candidates who lost their seats.

Interestingly, British Columbia is the place where the world's green movement started. But the provincial Green party under Adriane Carr failed to win even a single seat. In fact, its share of the vote fell down considerably.

The voters were also asked to vote on a referendum on a new voting system called single transferable vote (STV).