Indo-Canadians: Growing tall

Community's growing political clout is evident, writes Gurmukh Singh.

How much political clout the more than a million-strong Indo-Canadian community has come to wield in this country can be gauged from media reports these days. Pick up any newspaper or watch TV news and you will invariably see some top political leader wooing them.

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Last Sunday, this spectacle was played out on the national scene when Prime Minister Paul Martin, Conservative leader Stephen Harper and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton vied with each another to woo the Sikhs of Toronto at weekend gurdwara gatherings.

With their heads covered with saffron scarves, the three leaders adopted different tactics to woo the audience. While Martin praised the community for its contribution to Canada, Harper told them how his party stood for traditional values and opposed same-sex marriages. For his part, Layton tried to please them by demanding a public inquiry into the Air-India case and official recognition for the five Sikh symbols (Ks) in Canada.

Furthermore, all sorts of announcements have been made in recent days to ease the immigration process and visa rules for relatives and "recognise'' foreign degrees.

The reasons for this wooing game are not far to seek. The Liberal party government of Prime Minister Paul Martin, which was already in minority, has been put in political jeopardy by the sponsorship scandal. The scandal happened when federal contracts were given to Liberal party-friendly ad firms for promoting nationalism (federalism) in Quebec after the narrow defeat of a referendum for that province's separatism from Canada in 1995.

This $250 million scandal, called Adscam, is being now probed by Justice John Gomery. Revelations before the commission last week forced the Prime Minister to speak to people directly to plead for more time.

Though the New Democratic Party, which has wrested concessions on the budget, has promised to bail out the Government when the no-trust motion comes up some time later, it is unlikley that the Government will survive.

In a way, the Toronto show marked the kick-off of the campaign for the next general election which could come as soon as June.

Amid this unfolding drama at the federal level, British Columbia province is already in the poll mode for the May 17 ballot to elect a new 79-member assembly.

Here again, the Indo-Canadians, who constitute about 6-7 per cent of the provincial population, are a much sought-after community these days.

In many constituencies (ridings) of Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Vancouver and Burnaby, Indo-Canadians are not only the deciding factor but are the deciders.

As has happened in the past elections, both the ruling Liberal party and the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) have fielded quite a few Indo-Canadian candidates to win community votes.

In fact, there are a record 15 Indo-Canadians in the fray -- seven from the Liberal party and nine from the NDP -- this time. In the outgoing assembly, there were seven Indo-Canadian MLAs -- six for the Liberal party and one for the NDP.

Out of the six Liberal MLAs, two were -- both women Patty Sahota and Sindi Hawkins -- ministers of state. While the Liberals have retained all but one outgoing MLAs as their candidates, the NDP has given tickets to many new faces.

Curiously, the youngest Indo-Canadian MLA Karn Manhas -- who in the 2001 elections became the youngest MLA in British Columbian history -- is not contesting this time. The Liberal party has replaced him with the most respected Indo-Canadian in this province. He is Justice Wally Oppal of the British Columbian Supreme Court.

At 64, Oppal is the oldest Indo-Canadian ever to contest elections in this province and could be the next attorney general (who combines the roles of home minister and law minister in India) of the province. This job was also held by the current Canadian health minister Ujjal Dosanjh before he became the premier (equivalent of a chief minister in India) in February 2000. Interestingly, in three constituencies, it is an all Indo-Canadian affair.

In Vancouver-Fraserview, Justice Oppal faces Ravindar Gill who is a former bus driver. And the sitting MLA, Jagrup Brar, of the NDP faces Bob Hans in Surrey-Panorama. Brar is a former basketball player for India and had won the November by-election from the same constituency.

Raj Chouhan of the NDP and state minister Patty Sahota are locked in Burnaby-Edmonds.

And then there is an honorary Indian called Toofan Singh aka Daniel Ogali, who is the Liberal candidate against Harry Bains of the NDP in Surrey-Newton.

Ogali came to Canada as part of the Nigerian team for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria and stayed back to live with an Indo-Canadian family in Surrey. In the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he won Canada's first gold medal in wrestling.

Because of his association with Indo-Canadians, Ogali became a very good player of kabbadi that earned him the nickname of 'Toofan' or Typhoon Singh.

And this Typhoon is creating waves in British Columbia these days.