Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, KC, MPP (Punjabi: ਪ੍ਰਭਮੀਤ ਸਰਕਾਰੀਆ) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who is the Ontario Minister of Transportation. He has sat as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the riding of Brampton South since the 2018 Ontario provincial election, representing the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party. He was the associate minister of small business and red tape reduction from 2019 to 2021.[1][2]
Sarkaria is the first turban-wearing Sikh Cabinet minister in Ontario.[3]
Early and personal life
editSarkaria is a Sikh and grew up in Brampton, Ontario. Sarkaria’s parents immigrated from Punjab, India in the 1980s. His father drove a taxi and mother worked in a factory until they later became small business owners, after purchasing an inn outside of Orangeville.[4] He studied finance at Wilfrid Laurier University and after working at TD Securities, Sarkaria completed his law degree at the University of Windsor.[5][better source needed] He worked at Miller Thomson as an associate corporate lawyer until his election.[5][better source needed]
Before entering provincial politics, Sarkaria served on the City of Brampton’s Property Standards Committee, and was an organizer for the annual Hockey for Humanity tournament. He was also the former Ontario Vice President of the World Sikh Organization, an organization that advocates for the Sikh community diaspora.[6]
Sarkaria and his wife, Sarpreet, had their first child, a daughter named Deyva, in May 2020.[4]
Political positions
editSarkaria was nominated to be the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party’s candidate for Brampton South on December 8, 2016.[6]
42nd Parliament of Ontario
editPrior to his appointment to the Ontario Cabinet, Sarkaria was the chair of the Select Committee on Financial Transparency and also served on the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. He also previously served as the parliamentary assistant to the solicitor general (formerly known as the minister of community safety and correctional services).[7]
He stepped down as the parliamentary assistant to the solicitor general on June 20, 2019 when he was appointed to the Executive Council of Ontario as the new associate minister of small business and red tape reduction.
COVID-19
editSarkaria served as the minister responsible for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Electoral results
edit| 2022 Ontario general election: Brampton South | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Prabmeet Sarkaria | 12,980 | 45.38 | +4.37 | ||||
| Liberal | Marilyn Raphael | 7,957 | 27.82 | +8.92 | ||||
| New Democratic | Andria Barrett | 5,475 | 19.14 | −14.70 | ||||
| Green | Ines Espinoza | 1,028 | 3.59 | −0.26 | ||||
| New Blue | Mike Mol | 974 | 3.41 | |||||
| None of the Above | Mehdi Pakzad | 188 | 0.66 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 28,602 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 112 | |||||||
| Turnout | 28,714 | 35.81 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 79,835 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | −2.28 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative | Prabmeet Sarkaria | 15,652 | 41.01% | ||||
| New Democratic | Paramjit Gill | 12,919 | 33.85% | ||||
| Liberal | Sukhwant Thethi | 7,212 | 18.89% | ||||
| Green | Lindsay Falt | 1,472 | 3.86% | ||||
| Libertarian | Brian Watson | 363 | 0.95% | ||||
| Trillium | John Grant | 337 | 0.88% | ||||
| Freedom | Ted Harlson | 214 | 0.56% | ||||
| Total valid votes | 100.0 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[8] | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
| |||||||
Cabinet posts
editReferences
edit- ^ "Progressive Conservative Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria takes provincial victory in Brampton South". BramptonGuardian.com. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "NDP Sara Singh beats PCs rival by 89 votes in Brampton Centre". The Star. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ Service, Tribune News. "Canada's Ontario gets first turban-wearing Sikh minister". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ a b ""Newborns and politicians-in-crisis keep similar hours": Small business minister Prabmeet Sarkaria on becoming a new dad while trying to save the economy". Toronto Life. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Prabmeet Sarkaria". LinkedIn.
- ^ a b "Lawyer Prabmeet Sarkaria candidate for Ontario PC Party in Brampton South". Brampton Guardian. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ "Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". 7 June 2018.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.