TORONTO (TIP) : Of the two ensuing elections  – the new leader of the Liberal Party and next Prime Minister of Canada and the provincial elections of Ontario – the impact of the ongoing tariff war and widening gulf in bilateral trade and people-to-people relations with neighboring United States is apparent. Average Canadians in general and Ontarians in particular have been watching with tremendous interest day-to-day developments as their future is closely hinged on the outcome of this unprecedented war of attrition.

Mounting tensions notwithstanding, battle lines have been drawn for the February 27 Ontario Provincial Assembly elections. Similarly, the fight for the Liberal Party leadership and the next Prime Minister of Canada is also inching towards its climax. All six candidates have stepped up their campaigns to woo the party MPs and delegates who will vote on March 9 to make their final choice.

The results of both elections will be watched with tremendous interest in Canada and the immediate neighborhood. One thing that stands out in the advanced Ontario Provincial elections is a significant drop in the number of candidates and political outfits.

The Indo-Canadian community, too, will await the results of the February 27 polls with bated breath. It looks forward to improving the best tally of 11 legislators.

Compared to 900 candidates who fought in the last provincial polls in 2022, the number has dropped to 768, showing a 14.6 per cent decrease. Similarly, the number of political parties in the run for power this time is 20 against 25 in the last battle of the ballot.

Interestingly, there is no let-up in the political enthusiasm of the candidates of Indian descent vying to grab seats in the next Assembly of the biggest province of Canada. In all, there are 37 candidates of Indian descent in the run. They include all sitting members of the outgoing Assembly. Foremost of them have been Prabhmeet Singh Sarkaria, Amarjit Singh Sandhu, Hardeep Grewal, Nina Tangri and Deepak Anand who held key positions in the Doug Ford government.

Another redeeming feature for the growing Indo-Canadian community is the growing number of new faces entering the province’s political arena. Of many first-timers are Shafoli Kapur, an immigration consultant, and Ranjit Singh Bagga, who owns and runs several golf courses in the Greater Toronto Area.

New Blue Party, one of the recent additions to the political horizon of Ontario, has also fielded some candidates of Indian descent while the Greens have once again put their confidence in four candidates of Indian descent.

The best performance by the Indo-Canadian community in provincial elections has been 11 wins that were spread to three major political parties. Will the ensuing election see the Indian community get past its previous best? Only the results on the evening of February 27 will tell.

Here is the complete list of candidates of Indian descent in the fray representing all major political parties and independents:

Progressive Conservatives

Deepak Anand – Mississauga-Malton

Hardeep Grewal – Brampton East

Logan Kanapathi -Markham-Thornhill

Prabhmeet Singh Sarkaria – Brampton South

Nina Tangri -Mississauga-Streetsville

Amarjot Sandhu – Brampton West

Vijay Thanigasalan – Scarborough-Rouge Park

New Democrats

Sonali Chakraborty – Scarborough Centre

Raymond Bhushan – Richmond Hill

Thadsa Navaneethan – Scarborough North

Rajni Sharma -Brampton South

Martin Singh – Brampton East

Sukhamrit Singh – Brampton Centre

Liberals

Anita Anandrajan – Scarborough North

Ranjit Singh Bagga – Brampton North

Nirmala Armstrong – Markham-Thornhill

Viresh Bansal – Oshawa

Vicky Dhillon – Brampton East

Jagbir Dosanjh – Markham-Unionville

Shafoli Kapur – Niagara Falls

Bhavik Parikh – Brampton South

Vandan Patel – Haldinand-Northfolk

Adil Shamji – Don Valley East

Gurwinder Dosanjh – Sault Ste. Marie

New Blue Party

Darryl Brothers – Mississauga-Streetsville

Maria Dsouza – Ottawa Centre

Kamalpreet Kaur – Brampton Centre

Rishab Bhatia – Ottawa-Vernier

Green

Mini Batra – Pickering-Uxbridge

Rajinder Boyal – Brampton South

Nira Dookeran – Ottawa South

Sanin Zeco – Durham

Communists

Rimmy Riarh – Parkdale-High Park

Progress Party Ontario

Pit Goyal – Willowdale

Independents

Pushpek Sidhu – Brampton West

Azad Goyat – Brampton East

Rahul Padmini Saumian – Oshawa

(Prabhjot Singh is a Toronto-based senior journalist. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)