Anushka Yadav
Liberal candidate Maninder Sidhu scored a commanding victory tonight over NDP’s Saranjit Singh.
With 100/213 polls reporting, Sidhu secured 23,727 votes with 47.4 per cent of the vote while Singh is in second with 13,077 votes or 26.1 per cent of the vote.
Conservative Ramona Singh came third with 12,045 votes or 24.1 per cent of the vote, followed by the Green party with two votes of 1.4 per cent of the vote.
The PPC’s Gaurav Walia has lost by 0.5 per cent of the vote.
Out of the five ridings in Brampton, Brampton East is the only district without an incumbent running in the 2019 election.
Located in the northwest Greater Toronto Area, Brampton East is home to a growing population of 122,000 with a South Asian majority of 65.8 per cent.
Liberal candidate Maninder Sidhu.
The riding was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution. It came into effect ahead of the 2015 federal elections.
Before the 2015 election, the riding was a part of Bramalea-Gore-Malton and Brampton-Springdale.
Independent MP Raj Grewal, elected under the banner of the Liberal party in 2015, stepped down from caucus due to gambling problems leading to “significant personal debts.”
Sidhu stepped into the race as a Liberal candidate. An entrepreneur, philanthropist and newcomer in politics, Sidhu offered himself as a strong advocate for the middle class youth who think “to succeed, they have to move away from Brampton.”
Conservative Ramona Singh presented herself as an advocate of “personal responsibility, a focus on family and economic opportunity,” in a video on her facebook page. She said she is committed towards fighting crime, and focusing on community safety and housing in Brampton East.
The NDP’s Saranjit Singh said on his website, people “deserve better with a government that helps working Canadians” by providing “affordable housing, clean public transit, a strong economy, universal pharmacare, a sustainable low-carbon future.”
Teresa Burgess-Ogilvie of the Greens promised to focus on “innovative economic, social and environmental solutions.” As an emergency management preparedness expert, she is also working on the release of ‘The Red Guide to Recovery for Canada,’ a resource guide for disasters.
The PPC’s Walia vowed to eliminate “interprovincial trade barriers, build pipelines, protect free speech, and eliminate supply management.”
Partap Dua, leader of Canada’s Fourth Front, promised to look at urgent issues such as “the rising population of seniors and baby boomers, the rising cost of living, employment, global warming and functioning of federal government.”
Manpreet Othi, an Independent candidate, advocated for “climate change, immigration policy, public safety,” and strongly believed in providing “services for families and seniors.”
In the 2015 federal election, Grewal won the riding with a plurality of 13,010, taking 23,652 votes or 52.32 per cent of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Naval Bajaj, took 10,642, or 23.54 per cent of the votes.
The NDP believes it’s competitive in the riding because in the 2018 Ontario provincial election, the winner was New Democrat Gurratan Singh, the brother of federal leader Jagmeet Singh, with a plurality of 5,166 with 18,062 votes and 46.92 per cent of the vote. The PCs came second with 12,896 votes and 33.50 per cent of the vote. The Liberals were in third place with 6,398 votes and 16.62 per cent of the vote. The Greens came fourth with 523 votes and 1.36 per cent of the vote.