Gurbax Singh Malhi

Gurbax Singh Malhi is a Canadian Liberal politician who, with Herb Dhaliwal, was one of the first two Sikhs elected to Canada's House of Commons, in 1993. The Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada's timeline says so, and South Asian Canadian Heritage lists the two as the first Sikhs elected to the Canadian Parliament. Wikipedia, which rests the claim on one archived Liberal Party page, calls him the first turban-wearing Sikh elected to the House of Commons.

Wikipedia says he was born at Chugha Kalan in the Moga district of Punjab and worked as a realtor before politics. He sat for Bramalea-Gore-Malton in Ontario, a riding called Bramalea-Gore-Malton-Springdale from 2000 to 2004, and openparliament.ca records March 2011 as his last time in Parliament.

Key moments

• 1993: elected for Bramalea-Gore-Malton as a Liberal, with 16,530 votes or 42.9 per cent, according to Wikipedia citing Elections Canada. Dhaliwal went on to become the first Sikh to hold a federal ministerial portfolio, appointed in 1997, the Heritage Museum's timeline says.
• 1997 to 2008: re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2008, Wikipedia says.
• 2001 to 2006: parliamentary secretary to a series of ministers, from the Minister of Labour in 2001 to the Minister of National Revenue in 2005 and 2006, Wikipedia says.
• 2002 and 2003: Wikipedia says he received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in 2003.
• 2011: he finished third in Bramalea-Gore-Malton, and the Conservative Bal Gosal won the seat, Wikipedia says.

Wikipedia says his daughter Harinder Malhi won Brampton-Springdale for the Ontario Liberals in 2014, citing the Toronto Star.

Remembered for: being among the first two Sikhs elected to Canada's Parliament. South Asian Canadian Heritage records that in 2015 a record 17 Sikh MPs were elected.