A record 15 Indo-Canadians were elected to Canada’s British Columbia legislature as the Conservatives swept to power in the provincial election and defeated the New Democratic Party (NDP). South Asians account for 9.6% of British Columbia’s population, according to the 2021 census.Conservative leader and Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson was once a small-town newspaper publisher. (X)By Sunday evening, the Conservatives were set to get 64 of the total 93 seats.
The NDP’s tally fell from 47 in the 2024 election to 27. The Conservatives had no presence in the British Columbia legislature before they won 44 seats in 2024, thanks to the unpopularity of the Federal NDP under then-leader Jagmeet Singh.
The NDP narrowly won in 2024.British Columbia Premier David Eby called the mid-term election as he sought a stronger majority on the back of his opposition to US President Donald Trump’s policies targeting Canada. The election call backfired.
On Sunday, he announced his resignation as NDP leader.Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, once a small-town newspaper publisher, is now the province’s Premier-designate.The 15 Indo-Canadians who won their ridings (constituencies) crossed the previous historic high of 14, set in 2024. Of the 15, 11 are Conservatives, and four are from the NDP.
Seven among them were re-elected. They include Deputy Premier Niki Sharma, who retained her Vancouver-Hastings riding.
Speaker Raj Chauhan won again from Burnaby-New Westminster.The other NDP winners are Ravi Parmar, a minister in the government, from Langford-Highlands and Rohini Arora from Burnaby East.Conservative victors include Monica Mohan (Delta North), Pavneet Singh (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream), Harman Bhangu (Langley-Abbotsford), Jody Toor (Langley-Willowbrook), Steve Kooner (Richmond-Queensborough), Mandeep Dhaliwal (Surrey North), Garry Purewal (Surrey-Fleetwood), Garry Thind (Surrey-Guildford), Harj Dhaliwal (Surrey-Newton), Jesse Sahota (Surrey-Serpentine River) and Deep Sandhu (Vancouver-Fraserview).The Conservatives swept the polls in Surrey, which has a concentration of Indo-Canadians.Sameer Kaushal, editor of the Surrey-based outlet NewsDerby, said a majority of Indo-Canadians voted for the Conservatives. He added they rejected the ultra-right wing and the Left-leaning NDP.“The only option was the centrist BC Conservatives,” he said, as they addressed issues, including affordability and infrastructure.Kaushal said there was also sentiment against Eby calling snap elections, as it was seen as opportunistic.