Sam Hundal

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Sulakhan Singh (Sam) Hundal (b. 1940) was the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in Brampton—Springdale in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.

Hundal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Teaching degree from Punjab University, a Commonwealth graduate's teaching certificate from the School of Education at the University of Leicester, and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Windsor. He works as a real-estate agent and language interpreter. Hundal has been involved in several Brampton community organizations since moving to the city in the mid-1970s, and participated in the 1996 Team Mission trade mission to South Asia.[1] He received a Governor General’s 125th Commemorative Canada Medal in 1992, and was granted an Outstanding Contribution Recognition Certificate from the Premier of Ontario in 1994.[2]

Hundal campaigned for the Brampton City Council in 1982, but was defeated (Globe and Mail, 27 October 1982). He was originally a member of the Liberal Party, and in 1990 challenged sitting Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Carman McClelland for the Ontario Liberal Party nomination in Brampton North (Toronto Star, 6 June 1990). Hundal charged that McClelland was ignoring the concerns of Brampton's Sikh community. McClelland denied this, and noted that over 550 party members from Brampton North's Sikh community supported his renomination. McClelland won the challenge, 1,002 votes to 827, in a contest that was marked by open hostility between the candidates (Toronto Star, 12 June 1990).

Hundal later campaigned for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in Brampton Centre in the 1997 federal election, and finished third against Liberal candidate Sarkis Assadourian. He was chosen as the Conservative Party's candidate in 2004 after it was discovered that Gurjit Grewal, the party's original nominee, had faced an assault charge in the early 1990s.[3] He received 11,182 votes (27.53%), finishing second against Liberal candidate Ruby Dhalla.

In 2001, Hundal was appointed to the Council of the College of Opticians of Ontario by the provincial Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris.[4]

He was the Conservative candidate for Brampton—Springdale for the 2006 federal election, and lost to Liberal incumbent Ruby Dhalla.

[edit] Electoral record

2006 federal election : Brampton—Springdale edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	(x)Ruby Dhalla	22,294	47.34	$74,457.88
	Conservative	Sam Hundal	14,492	30.77	$75,642.52
	New Democratic Party	Anna Mather	8,345	17.72	$15,155.71
	Green	Ian Raymond Chiocchio	1,853	3.93	$1,280.05
	Communist	Upali Jinadasa Wannaku Rallage	110	0.23	$1,107.96
Total valid votes			47,094	100.00
Total rejected ballots			220
Turnout			47,314	61.15
Electors on the lists			77,368

2004 federal election : Brampton—Springdale edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ruby Dhalla	19,385	47.73	$61,377.32
	Conservative	Sam Hundal	11,182	27.53	$72,905.33
	New Democratic Party	Kathy Pounder	8,038	19.79	$12,008.61
	Green	Nick Hudson	1,927	4.74	$944.44
	Communist	Gurdev Singh Mattu	86	0.21	$599.30
Total valid votes			40,618	100.00
Total rejected ballots			294
Turnout			40,912	54.85
Electors on the lists			74,591