Four years after Punjabi became Canada’s third most common language; it is now also Canadian parliament’s third language after English and French. This observation follows the election of 20 Punjabi-speaking candidates to the House of Commons.
Twenty-three Member of Parliaments of South Asian-origins were elected to the House of Commons, Parliament of Canada on October 19 parliamentary elections. The 430,705 native Punjabi speakers make up about 1.3 per cent of Canada’s population. The 20 Punjabi-speaking MPs represent almost six per cent of the House of Commons.
Of the 20 elected candidates who speak Punjabi, 18 are Liberals and two are Conservatives. Ontario elected 12, British Columbia four, Alberta three and one is from Quebec.
In an interview with recently, Navdeep Bains, a Liberal MP, said although 20 Punjabi-speaking MPs have been elected, these MPs represent all constituents regardless of their party affiliation or ethnic origin.
