TORONTO: Canada, which created history by electing the western world's first turbaned Sikh - Gurbax Singh Malhi - as an MP in 1993, may create another record by electing a first white Sikh MP in the October 19 parliamentary elections.
Martin
Singh 'Paaji', 42, who converted to Sikhism in 1991 and got baptised
in 1993, is in the poll fray from Toronto's neighbouring city of
Brampton which has the second largest concentration of Indians -
mostly Punjabis - in Canada.
This fast talking 'gora' or
'white' Sikh is the candidate from Brampton North for the opposition
New Democratic Party (NDP) which is leading in opinion
polls.
Married to a Sikh girl from Amritsar, Martin Singh is
pitted against two Sikhs - the sitting MP Parm Gill of the ruling
Conservative Party and Ruby Sahota of the Liberal Party.
"We
are here to win. I am confident that I will be elected. People are
responding very well,'' says the father of three, as he canvasses
from door to door in Canada's most ethnic city.
"There
are 21,000 Punjabis in my riding (constituency) and I am connecting
with each and everyone. They have confidence in me. They know what I
can do for them," says Martin Singh, who runs a pharmacy
business that employs about 500 people.
Recent changes in
immigration have impacted families, Martin Singh says, adding that
addressing this issue will be his top priority. "The Canadian
immigration and visa system is broken, we want to fix it as immigrant
families want all their members to be united. I am a businessman and
I want to create jobs which have vanished.''
Because of his
turban, this fast-talking 'gora' or 'white' Sikh made headlines in
Canada when he ran for the leadership of the New Democratic Party in
2012.
Ask him why he converted to Sikhism, and he says:
"Sikhism attracted me because Guru Nanak emphasised that 'Naam
japo, kirat karo, vand chhako' (meditate, earn honest living by hard
work and share) and his vision to pass guruship to the most
deserving, not his kin. So I embraced Sikhism in 1991. In 1993, I got
baptised.''
He says his family was very supportive of his
conversion to Sikhism. "My mother says that her son has done
many interesting things in life, but this one (conversion) has lasted
the longest."
Martin Singh says he got baptised in 1993,
and thanks to a Sikh family in Calgary he got introduced to a Sikh
girl in Amritsar who was to become his wife.
"I first
went to India in 1997, and met with the woman librarian of Religious
Studies Department at Guru Nanak Dev University. The librarian was
related to the Sikh family in Calgary. She introduced me to her niece
Amandeep Kaur who had just finished her Masters in Punjabi literature
from Punjabi University Patiala. I liked her and we got married in
Amritsar. I came back and she joined me here in 1998 as her visa took
some time.''
Though he cannot speak much Punjabi, Martin
'Paaji' has acquired enough knowledge to read Sikh scriptures in the
Gurmukhi script. It is quite amusing to hear him use the word `paaji'
(which means elder brother in Punjabi) in his conversation more
frequently than an average Punjabi.
Out of the eight
Indo-Canadian MPs in the outgoing House of Commons of 308 members,
six were Sikhs. In the upcoming elections, it is Sikh vs Sikh in over
a dozen ridings or constituencies.