First turbaned lawmaker for British Columbia as NDP all set to win

The British Columbia (BC) legislature is poised to welcome its first turbaned Sikh member of the legislative assembly (MLA) with human rights lawyer Aman Singh projected to winning his riding as his party National Democratic Party (NDP) is all set to lead once again.

BC NDP, led by John Horgan, will see him becoming the first consecutive two-term premier in the party’s history. At the national level, NDP is led by Jagmeet Singh.

The NDP will form a historic majority government in British Columbia for the first time in more than 20 years, CBC News projects. Horgan and the party are projected to take 55 of B.C.’s 87 ridings compared to 29 for the Liberals and three for the Green Party. It will be the first NDP majority since 1996.

Just 50 seats would constitute a decisive victory in any B.C. election, as it only takes 44 to form government. Fifty-five seats for the NDP would break the previous party record of 51 seats in 1991, CBC News reported.

On his part, Aman ran against Jas Johal, one of the Liberals’ most recognisable MLAs, in the Richmond-Queensborough riding. In 2017, Aman loss by just a whisker – a mere 136 votes.

Born in India, and raised in Hong Kong, Aman moved with his family to east Richmond, B.C. He studied Anthropology and Physics at the University of California Berkeley, and obtained his Law degree from the University of Victoria.

He was instrumental in drafting the petition that led to the historic apology in the House of Commons for the turning away of the Komagata Maru in 1914, reported media portal Ricochet.

He was also helped draft a petition seeking recognition of India’s 1984 state-sponsored Sikh massacre as genocide. Thousands of Sikhs were murdered across India following the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The Sikh diaspora in Canada and elsewhere has been fighting for justice and closure for decades.

That is not all. Ricochet noted that Aman was not just vocal about Sikh issues, noting that he remains a staunch critic of systemic racism against Indigenous Peoples in Canada and has advocated for the rights of those challenging controversial pipeline projects that are being pushed through their traditional lands without their consent.

Twenty two candidates of Punjabi origin are in the field in 15 constituencies for the BC Assembly elections which will be held on October 24, 2020. Of these, 11 candidates are from the ruling BC. NDP, 9 from BC Liberal Party and 2 from BC Vision Party, reported Babushahi.com.