Calgary Herald

RIDING TO WATCH: BRAMPTON EAST

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WHY IT MATTERS: Brampton East could prove the NDP’s beachhead in Peel Region, a suburban area to Toronto’s east that includes the namesake city, Mississaug­a and several small communitie­s. It’s a new riding carved from Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where New Democrat Jagmeet Singh almost picked up in the 2011 election before he ran successful­ly for the same seat at Queen’s Park. NDP candidate Harbaljit Kahlon worked for Singh for years, and the MPP calls Kahlon his “chief strategist” in the riding on constituen­cy issues. Singh also said that Brampton East makes up the portion of his riding where he gets most of his support. “If Brampton East would have existed in 2011 we would have won,” Singh said, and Elections Canada’s own reworking of the numbers proves the point. The area was “the weakest Conservati­ve performanc­e in (Peel Region) by a large margin” in 2011, said Barry Kay, a Wilfrid Laurier University political science professor. He said Singh’s high-profile presence at Queen’s Park means “people will not think of the NDP as a wasted vote.” But Kahlon still must fright for his seat. The Conservati­ve candidate Naval Bajaj is the president of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce and “a small business guy,” according to Mark Towhey, a management consultant and political strategist with Ballacaine Strategy & Execution. “The Conservati­ves have focused intently on building inroads into the South Asian communitie­s, especially the Indo-Canadian communitie­s in Brampton.” Lawyer Raj Grewal is running for the Liberals, and given their historic ties to new immigrant communitie­s, he shouldn’t be discounted. Immigratio­n policy is a key issue locally, Singh said, as many in the area feel betrayed by the Conservati­ves moves to make it harder to immigrate and make it possible to deport some dual Canadian citizens convicted of high crimes. He said many have had trouble sponsoring loved ones or even spouses and others are concerned about Anti-Terrorism Bill C-51 since they fled countries where civil liberties are routinely infringed by government.

KEY DEMOGRAPHI­CS: The riding is growing so fast a new suburb of densely packed houses can pop up seemingly overnight, Singh said. Almost 60 per cent of the population are first-generation Canadians, and 42 per cent of its total population emigrated from Asia, according to the 2011 StatsCan census. Close to a 30 per cent moved there from India and the subcontine­nts various ethnic groups form key constituen­cies in the diverse riding. It’s one of — if not the most — diverse ridings in Canada: nearly 88 per cent of the population identifies as a visible minority and over 60 per cent as South Asian.

CLAIM TO FAME: Grewal’s nomination meeting was said to be so fraught a physical brawl broke out after some potential voters were turned away. Towhey said it will be interestin­g to see if he can repair the Liberal divides in order to find the path to victory. And despite multiple media reports of a fight, the Liberals maintain no fists were thrown.

THE DARK HORSE: There are currently no candidates registered to run in Brampton East other than from the three largest parties, however, candidates have until Sept. 28 to file their papers with Elections Canada. Tim Hortons or Starbucks?: This is deep in the heart of car country, baby. Who cares what company it is, as long as it has a drive-thru.

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