Canada elections: 17 PIOs triumph; Jagmeet Singh of NDP to be kingmaker again

TORONTO: Seventeen Indo-Canadians, including NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and defence minister Harjit Sajjan, won Canada’s parliamentary polls on Tuesday with PM Justin Trudeau returning to power in the snap polls.

All three Indo-Canadian ministers — Harjit Sajjan, Anita Anand and Bardish Chagger — in the dissolved cabinet emerged victorious as did 42-year-old New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh from Burnaby South.

NDP will again hold the balance of power as it increased its tally from 24 to 27. “I want to say Canadians know that you can count on NDP to continue fighting for you. As we’ve fought for you in the pandemic,” Jagmeet said on Monday. Sajjan was re-elected from Vancouver-South, with nearly 49% of the vote share, drawing even more votes than his last win in the area, CTV News reported.