Gurbax Singh Malhi () (born 12 October 1949) is an Indian-born Canadian politician. A Liberal, he was first elected as the Member of Parliament for

Bramalea—Gore—Malton Bramalea—Gore—Malton (formerly known as Brampton—Malton and Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale) was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada. In 2015, it was dissolved into ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, and served as its representative in the House of Commons for 18 consecutive years until his defeat in the 2011 election. Malhi is notable for being the first turban-wearing

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

to be elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, or any national legislature in the western world.

Member of Parliament

Malhi was first elected to the House of Commons in the federal election of 1993, defeating Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbent

Harry Chadwick Harry Posting Chadwick (13 November 1927 – 23 March 2020) was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. His background was in the automobile industry, was a receiver and also worked in a warehouse. Chadwick was a city al ...

and in the Peel Region riding of

. Prior to 1993, Canadian law prohibited members of Parliament from wearing headgear of any sort in the House of Commons. Malhi's insistence on wearing a turban caused the law to be changed shortly after the election. Malhi was re-elected in the 1997 election over Reform candidate Darlene Florence and PC candidate Beryl Ford. He was re-elected with the greatest majority of his career in the 2000 federal election over Canadian Alliance candidate Gurdish Mangat and PC candidate Danny Varaich. He was re-elected again with a significant plurality over Conservative

Raminder Singh Gill Raminder Singh Gill (born 1950 or 1951) is an Indian-born Canadian politician in Ontario. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003, and has unsuccessfully sought election to the House of Commons of Canada on three ...

in the 2004 election, despite the fact that his riding was a key Conservative target. In the 2006 federal election, Malhi was elected over Conservative candidate John Sprovieri and NDP candidate Cesar Martello. Malhi was elected for the sixth time in the 2008 election over Conservative candidate

Stella Ambler Stella Ambler (born September 29, 1966) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for the federal electoral district of Mississauga South from 2011 to 2015. She is a member of the Conservative Party. Background Ambler's par ...

and NDP candidate Jash Puniya. In 2002, he became the recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for his commitment and contributions to Canadian society. In 2003, he was appointed for life to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada by Prime Minister Paul Martin. Gurbax Singh Malhi served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2004, Malhi served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry with special emphasis on Entrepreneurs and New Canadians. In 2004 he was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and he served in this capacity until 2005. In 2005, Gurbax Singh Malhi also acted as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal. From 2005 to 2006, he also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. In 2005, Malhi was among 32 Liberal Party backbenchers who voted against the

Civil Marriage Act The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...

, despite the Liberal government being officially in favour of its adoption. In a House of Commons debate, he encouraged MPs to vote to maintain the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman "in keeping with the natural law and in conformity with God's design for the world" and downplayed discrimination against same-sex couples, stating that "just because differences exist in society, it does not mean that inequality and discrimination exist". In the 2011 federal election, the Liberal Party won the fewest seats in its history. Falling to third place, Malhi was defeated by Conservative Bal Gosal.

Jagmeet Singh Jagmeet Singh Jimmy Dhaliwal ( ; born January 2, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2017. Singh has sat as the member of Parliament (MP) for Burnaby South since 2019.2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. During the

2014 Ontario general election The 2014 Ontario general election was held on June 12, 2014, to elect the members of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal Party won a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, legislature, allowing its ...

, he campaigned for his daughter

Harinder Malhi Harinder Kaur Malhi (born ) is a Canadian former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018 who represented the riding of Brampton—Springdale, and was a member of the Ont ...

, who contested and won the seat for

Brampton—Springdale Brampton—Springdale was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 until 2015, when it was abolished after the 2012 federal electoral redistribution. History It was crea ...

for the Ontario Liberal Party, becoming a

Member of Provincial Parliament Member of Provincial Parliament is the title given to provincial legislators in two legislatures: * Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada) * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape) In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of P ...

in the

41st Legislative Assembly of Ontario The 41st Legislative Assembly of Ontario was a legislature of the government of the province of Ontario, Canada. The membership was set by the 2014 Ontario general election. The 41st parliament of Ontario was dissolved on May 8, 2018. It was con ...

Electoral record

Bramalea—Gore—Malton

Source
Elections Canada
/small> Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

Bramalea—Gore—Malton

Note that all electoral information is taken from Elections Canada.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malhi, Gurbax Singh Living people 1949 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian politicians of Indian descent Canadian politicians of Punjabi descent Canadian Sikhs Indian emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Panjab University alumni People from Punjab, India Politicians from Brampton Punjabi people