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October
2007
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MANY DESIS All the parties are reaching out
to The Desi News primer on
the desi candidates
NINA TANGRI
Nina Tangri was born in England and moved to Canada after finishing high school. She is the ceo of Tangri Insurance & Financial Group Inc. and is a licensed registered insurance broker. Tangri has a long history of involvement in federal and provincial politics and has served on the executive of various riding associations and co-chaired leadership campaigns. She is the past-president of the National Indo-Canadian Council for the Peel Region and is a member of the board of directors of the Credit Valley Hospital. She is the recipient of the National McDonald-Cartier award for outstanding volunteer and community work. When not working at her insurance company or working in the community, Tangri enjoys spending time with her three children, playing sports and going to the movies.
RAVI SINGH Ravi Singh is manager of Compliance at the Bank of Nova Scotia. He grew up in a strong political environment within his family in India and moved to Canada in 1988. Singh volunteers in the community and has a strong understanding of issues such as healthcare and education. An enhanced public transit system is better for the environment, he says, and believes each Ontarian should have access to a family doctor and timely, universal healthcare. He wants to establish programs which create a skilled workforce through a greater emphasis on trades, vocational skills, training and apprenticeship and he wants to improve the policy on recognizing the credentials of foreign-trained professionals.
PAM HUNDAL Conservative, Bramalea-Gore-Malton Pam Hundal says she prioritizes honesty and integrity as fundamental to her political vision. Most important to Hundal are the issues of: bed shortages and funding for hospitals; keeping schools safe and increasing the number of youth programs; becoming a voice for senior citizens; maintaining green space and increasing the number of parks and trails; developing programs for unemployed individuals who need retraining and minimizing the obstacles foreign-trained professionals encounter; increasing the availability of legal aid to those who cannot afford legal help. She co-chaired a gala dinner that helped raise $60,000 for a hospital foundation and is co-chair for the board of directors for the North Peel and Dufferin Legal Aid Clinic. Hundal, 32, was born and raised in Brampton. She has done Law, and lives with her husband in the riding she seeks to represent.
DR KULDIP KULAR Liberal, Bramalea-Gore-Malton As a former newcomer to Ontario, Dr Kuldip Kular understands the needs of immigrants. As a medical professional, he wants our healthcare system to continue to gain in stability and efficiency. As an Ontarian, he wants to ensure the prosperity of our province. As mpp of Bramalea-Gore-Malton, he wants to ensure that his vision for Ontario is seen through. Dr Kular immigrated to Canada in 1974, and has lived in Brampton since 1986. "My wife and I have raised our family here, and we value the sense of community in this area. Recently, we have seen an increase in violence, especially among our youth, and the Liberals have delivered funding for 97 additional police officers for Peel Region. Together, we can tackle the issues that affect community safety. Since 2003, we have opened and expanded numerous hospitals all over Ontario and are hiring back the 8,000 nurses that were fired by the Mike Harris government. Also, we are not only measuring wait times, we’re bringing them down," says Dr Kular. "Much has been done, but we realize there is more to do. With your help, we can continue the progress of the last four years and exceed your expectations in many areas."
HARINDER TAKHAR Liberal, Mississauga-Erindale
As mpp for Mississauga Centre, it has been my pleasure to represent my constituents and work with them to build a strong community since 2003. When the voters of Mississauga and hardworking people like them across this province put the McGuinty Liberals into government four years ago, they sent out a very clear message. They said no to the days of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. They said no to decimating our schools and hospitals. They said no to letting our roads and infrastructure crumble. They said no to ignoring the vulnerable and helpless."
VIC DHILLON Liberal, Brampton West Vic Dhillon was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2003. He helped establish a family-owned business in Mississauga. He is an active member of his community and has taken a leading role in many food bank drives and took on the task of finding the Knight’s Table Food Bank a new home in Brampton. He led a local group that collected supplies for the devastating ice storm in Eastern Ontario, tsunami in Asia and the earthquake in Pakistan. Dhillon has been a resident of Brampton for most of his life. He and his wife, Shaminder, have two sons, Robin and Sajjan and a daughter, Taj.
BAS BALKISSOON
Liberal, Scarborough-Rouge River Bas Balkissoon was elected to the provincial parliament after 17 years as a city councillor. "I have a passion for working with the people of my riding to improve our neighbourhoods and deliver the programs and ser-vices needed in this community," he says. "I feel I can play a vital role in addressing local concerns and I am seeking re-election to continue to give back to my community and make positive contributions for all Ontarians. I will continue to work to ensure that our streets remain safe, and that our education and healthcare systems remain strong."
SHAFIQ QAADRI
Liberal, Etobicoke North "Service, helping people, mobilizing the resources of the government of Ontario, directing people to the most efficient pathway for their needs, putting people first, meeting constituents, answering questions from 7-year-old children, guiding seniors through the maze of modern society, offering assistance and direction to new Canadians seeking integration and opportunity...These are just some of the duties, privileges and responsibilities that I value, and that I hope to continue to do should I have the good fortune to be re-elected as the mpp for Etobicoke North," says Dr Shafiq Qaadri.
SHAILA KIBRIA
NDP, Mississauga Erindale Shaila Kibria has taught, written a children’s book, Maariyah’s Day, and freelanced for cbc Radio. She established the first food bank at utm, and worked to reinstate child care service at utm. Shaila teaches at her local mosque and founded the mosque’s food bank. She and her husband have three children and are proud to raise them in Mississauga.
RINI GHOSH NDP, Willowdale Rini Ghosh says she is a proven community builder who listens to people and takes action on important issues. She served for two years as president of the Arts and Sciences Students’ Union at the UofT before being elected president of the UofT Students’ Administrative Council, rep-resenting tens of thousands of students. She is the winner of the Gordon Cressy Student Leader-ship award and the Sarkar Award for outstanding service to students. She is concerned about the rising cost of living for working families, particularly immigrant and low-income families, and promises to use her voice to address these concerns and more.
MANI SINGH
NDP, Brampton-Springdale Mani Singh has lived in Brampton for more than 26 years and has raised his four children there. He is excited about the opportunity to speak up for the working families of Brampton-Spring-dale. He is the former president of the Association of Concerned Guyanese in Toronto and knows new Canadian communities need family-supporting jobs, recognition of their foreign profess-ional credentials, fair and accountable community funding, and fair property taxes.
OTHERS • Amrit Mangat, Liberal, Mississauga-Brampton South • Gayani Weerasinghe, Conservative, Vaughan • Bala Thavarajasoorier, ndp, Ajax-Pickering• Anita Agrawal, ndp, Etobicoke Centre• Karan Pandher, ndp, Mississauga-Brampton South • Jay Sarkar, ndp, Scarborough Southwest • Satish Balasunderam, ndp, Mississauga East-Cooksville • Neethan Shan, ndp, Scarborough-Guildwood |
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