In an interview with National Post, former two-time Conservative MP Devinder Shory asked rhetorically: “Could they not find any Christian, Muslim or Hindus from India?”
Former B.C. finance minister
Mike de Jong was a casualty of the strategy to back Sikh candidates. He campaigned for a year to replace veteran Conservative MP Ed Fast in the B.C. riding of Abbotsford—South Langley. He had the backing of the riding association but days ahead of the federal campaign, he was told by the party that he was not approved to take part in the nomination contest because he was not qualified.
That race was eventually won by 25-year-old Sukman Gill, who went on to beat Liberal Kevin Gillies, as well as de Jong, who ran as an Independent.
This is the ultimate defence of appointing Sikhs: they tend to win. One Conservative veteran of outreach wars called the Sikh community “a vote-bank machine.”
The Indo-Canadian diaspora is split nearly 50/50 between Sikhs and Hindus, but the Sikh community is much more concentrated in a handful of ridings. There
are nine ridings in Canada where the Sikh population makes up more than 20 per cent (including Surrey Newton in B.C., where it is over 50 per cent), according to the 2021 census. There are only two where Hindus account for more than one-fifth of the population.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals were heavily criticized for pandering to the Sikh diaspora. Domestic politics were at least partly responsible for Trudeau’s decision to announce in the House of Commons in 2023 that Canada had
“credible evidence” of Indian government involvement in the assassination of Khalistani activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Omer Aziz, a former Liberal foreign policy adviser to Trudeau,
wrote in the Globe and Mail afterward that Canada should have clamped down on Khalistani terror financing but “didn’t want to lose the Sikh vote to (then NDP leader) Jagmeet Singh, so we dug in our heels.”
The truth is that all parties woo Sikh voters and, at best, turn a blind eye to Khalistani sympathizers.
The tactic worked for the Conservatives in the 2025 election, at least on the surface. The party added six new Sikh MPs to the caucus: Amanpreet Singh Gill in Calgary Skyview, Dalwinder Gill in Calgary McKnight, Jagsharan Singh Mahal in Edmonton Southeast, Sukman Gill in Abbotsford—South Langley, Amarjeet Gill in Brampton West and Harb Gill in Windsor West.
But there are opportunity costs to every move.
Anecdotally, it seems that many Hindus stuck with the Liberals, despite being upset over Trudeau’s behaviour on India.
Amarjeet Gill’s victory in Brampton West was the only success for the Conservatives in a riding where Hindus represented more than 10 per cent of the population.
But the implications of the strategy are wider than winning a handful or ridings.
Hindu Conservatives like Shory suggest, while Harper “kept everything in balance,” the Sikhs in caucus are now driving policy and that Khalistani sympathies are an obstacle to improving relations with India.
“Some people get the impression that politicians in Canada have been hijacked by Khalistanis. People have the right to express their views, but politicians should not give radicals their support. Canada should be in the forefront,” the former MP said.
De Jong said that he doesn’t understand why Canadian politicians allow themselves to get wrapped up in tribal politics.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I just didn’t go to certain parades because I didn’t want to march in front of a float that
celebrated the assassination of an Indian prime minister (Indira Gandhi),” he said.
Poilievre has been clear in his speeches that new arrivals should bring their culture and their traditions here, but not their homeland conflicts.
“If you come to Canada, you become a Canadian. You put Canada first. Leave your problems at the door,” Poilievre said.
But that is not a philosophy he has applied to his own party’s nominations.
