Ruby Sahota[2] PC MP (born June 22, 1979)[3][4] is a Canadian Liberal politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the federal riding Brampton North during the 2015 Canadian federal election.[5][6]
Ruby Sahota | |
|---|---|
| Chief Government Whip | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2024 Interim: January 8, 2024 – July 9, 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Steven MacKinnon |
| Member of Parliament for Brampton North | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Riding established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 22, 1979 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Tejinder Sahota |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence | Brampton[1] |
| Alma mater | McMaster University (BA) Western Michigan University (JD) |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Website | rsahota.liberal.ca |
Early life and education
editSahota was born in Toronto after her parents arrived in Canada from Punjab, India in the late 1970s,[7] and was raised in Brampton. Her father previously was the Chairman of the Ontario Sikhs and Gurdwara Council.[8]
Sahota attended Brampton's Central Peel Secondary School from 1993 to 1998, and then graduated with an Honours bachelor's degree in Political Science and Peace Studies at McMaster University in 2003.[9] She then attended Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, graduating in 2007.
Legal career
editFrom 2007 to 2012, Sahota practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio, focusing on commercial litigation.[10][11] She became a lawyer after.
Political career
editSahota sought the Liberal nomination for the newly created riding of Brampton North, winning it on March 1, 2015.[12]
The general election campaign involved some controversy, as Sahota's campaign criticized leaflets circulated by her opponent, Conservative incumbent Parm Gill, which it was alleged were deliberately aimed at confusing Sahota with previous Liberal Party MP Ruby Dhalla.[13] Sahota defeated Gill to win the election.
Once elected, Sahota was appointed to both the Standing Committee on the Status of Women and the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. She was subsequently named to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform. On February 1, 2017, she was elected Chair of the Federal Liberal Ontario Caucus by her peers. As Caucus Chair, she presides over meetings, leads discussions, and is an important link between Ontario Liberal MPs and the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet.
Sahota was appointed interim Chief Government Whip on January 8, 2024, replacing Steven MacKinnon while he was appointed interim Government House Leader while Karina Gould was on maternity leave. MacKinnon was promoted to Minister of Labour on July 9, 2024 making Sahota's appointment as whip permanent.[14]
Personal life
editShe is married to podiatrist Dr. Tejinder Sahota and has a son named Nihal.
Electoral record
edit| 2021 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Ruby Sahota | 22,976 | 53.87 | +2.44 | ||||
| Conservative | Medha Joshi | 13,292 | 31.16 | +3.49 | ||||
| New Democratic | Teresa Yeh | 6,386 | 14.97 | -1.92 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 42,654 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 42,654 | 56.61 | -8.58 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,344 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[15] | ||||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -0.53 | ||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Brampton North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ruby Sahota | 25,970 | 51.42 | +3.05 | $76,162.12 | |||
| Conservative | Arpan Khanna | 13,973 | 27.67 | -5.32 | $100,060.30 | |||
| New Democratic | Melissa Edwards | 8,382 | 16.90 | +0.40 | $17,829.85 | |||
| Green | Norbert D'Costa | 1,516 | 3.00 | +1.10 | $0.00 | |||
| People's | Keith Frazer | 510 | 1.01 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,502 | 99.03 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 496 | 0.97 | ||||||
| Turnout | 50,998 | 65.19 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 78,229 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +4.11 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[16][17] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Brampton North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ruby Sahota | 23,297 | 48.37 | +20.21 | $136,386.70 | |||
| Conservative | Parm Gill | 15,888 | 32.99 | -15.88 | $194,312.26 | |||
| New Democratic | Martin Singh | 7,946 | 16.50 | -2.34 | $78,854.84 | |||
| Green | Pauline Thornham | 915 | 1.90 | -1.78 | $146.44 | |||
| Communist | Harinderpal Hundal | 120 | 0.25 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 48,166 | 100.00 | $206,076.29 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 318 | 0.66 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 48,484 | 66.13 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 73,321 | |||||||
| Liberal notional gain from Conservative | Swing | +18.05 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[18][19] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ Alumni Elected Officials | WMU Cooley Law School Western Michigan University]
- ^ Sahota, Ruby (June 22, 2016). "Ruby Sahota on Twitter: "Thanks for the birthday wishes & cake #TeamSahota - They are truly amazing individuals working hard for #Brampton"". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Ruby Sahota is the Liberal party candidate for Brampton North". Brampton Guardian. September 1, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
- ^ "Liberal Ruby Sahota wins in Brampton North". San Grewal. Toronto Star. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "19 Indian-Canadians elected to Canadian parliament". The Economic Times. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Debates (Hansard) No. 30 - March 10, 2016 (42-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.parl.gc.ca.
- ^ "'Captain's allegations against Canadian minister baseless'". indianexpress.com. 17 April 2017.
- ^ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubysingh [self-published source]
- ^ "Benchmark | Summer 2016". issuu.com. issuu. July 24, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ Ruby Sahota Biography, Liberal.ca.
- ^ Another Ruby wins Liberal nomination for Brampton North, Can-India News, March 5, 2015.
- ^ Althia Raj, Ruby Sahota, Liberal Candidate, Incensed At Tory Parm Gill's Name Game, The Huffington Post, August 24, 2015.
- ^ "Brampton MP Ruby Sahota named government whip in Liberal cabinet adjustment". InSauga. January 9, 2024. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Brampton North, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine