While Parm Gill took on the new portfolio of Citizenship and Multiculturalism in Premier Doug Ford’s Ontario PC government while Nina Tangri was appointed to the junior cabinet post of Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape. Another Indo-Canadian MPP Prabhmeet Sarkariya, who was previously the associate minister of small business and red tape reduction, was promoted to the head of Treasury Board. 

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff

TORONTO - Two more Indo-Canadian politicians have been appointed as ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle in Canada’s largest province, taking the representation of the community members in the Executive Council to three.

Parm Gill, 47, takes on the new portfolio of Citizenship and Multiculturalism in Premier Doug Ford’s Ontario PC government while Nina Tangri was appointed to the junior cabinet post of Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape.

“Who would have thought a young boy who immigrated from India to Canada at a young age, raised by a single mother, would today be sworn in as Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism,” said Gill, who was born in Moga, Punjab.

"Excited to be sworn in as the Associate Minister of Small Business & Red Tape Reduction. Thank you to Premier," said Tangri.

Gill’s appointment as Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism surprised many in the Indo-Canadian community, including Gill himself. 

"Who would have thought a young boy who immigrated from India to Canada at a young age, raised by a single mother, would today be sworn in as Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism for the Province of Ontario," he wrote on Facebook.

Gill, who was born in Moga, Punjab, had previously served as an MP in the House of Commons.

Prabmeet Sakaria, who in 2019 became the first turban-wearing minister in Ontario when he was appointed Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, was promoted to a full Cabinet rank as President of the Treasury Board.

"It is an honour to be sworn in as Ontario's President of the Treasury Board. I am dedicated to working hard with Premier Ford and my colleagues to support Ontarians," Sarkaria said after his elevation.

Ford reshuffled his Cabinet last Friday, with former Finance Minister Rod Phillips, who resigned from his post following a Caribbean vacation during the Covid-19 pandemic, returning as the new minister of long-term care.

Tangri, whose family comes from Bilga near Jalandhar, has been made Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

Till now, she was serving as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

With the Ontario elections exactly a year away, Ford has elevated three Punjabis in his Cabinet with an eye on Indo-Canadian votes in the so-called 905 region around Toronto, including Brampton and Mississauga.

The 905 region, named after the area code, has the biggest concentration of the Punjabi community in Canada.