Vic Dhillon

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Vic Dhillon (born 1969) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a current member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the constituency of Brampton West—Mississauga for the Ontario Liberal Party. Dhillon is one of the three Sikh Members of the Legislature, all of whom are members of the Liberal Party.

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[edit] Early life and career

Dhillon has lived in Brampton, Ontario for most of his life. He has a degree in Business Administration from Lakehead University, and helped found a family-owned business in Mississauga after his graduation. He has done fundraising work for the Brampton Food Bank, and led a local initiative to send supplies to eastern Ontario during the ice storm of 1998. Dhillon worked as a constituency assistant to federal Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Gurbax Singh Malhi for five months after the 1993 federal election, and then worked as an as executive assistant to Liberal MP Colleen Beaumier for just over nine years.[1]

[edit] Political career

Dhillon first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1999 provincial election, and losing to high-profile Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement in the newly-created provincial constituency of Brampton West—Mississauga. He ran again in the 2003 election, and this time defeated Clement by 2,512 votes. Most political observers considered this to be a significant upset. Strong support from the constituency's Indo-Canadian community was a factor, as was a provincial swing to the Liberals.

Dhillon was 34 years old at the time of his election, and his second child was born during the campaign. He was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government Services on September 20, 2006.[2] He has introduced a private member's bill to protect transient workers from exploitation by hiring agencies.[3]

In 2004, Dhillon was credited by local residents with saving Knights Table, a non-profit diner that provides meals for Brampton's poor and homeless. According to a Toronto Star report, Dhillon introduced the diner's management to Jaswant Singh Birk, who in turn provided the establishment with a generous lease after its previous contract expired.[4]

Dhillon is currently supporting Gerard Kennedy's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada.[5]

[edit] External links

Information from these pages has been integrated into this article.

[edit] Table of offices held

Preceded by:
Tony Clement
M.P.P. for
Brampton West—Mississauga

2003-
Succeeded by:
Incumbent

[edit] Electoral record

2003 Ontario provincial election : Brampton West—Mississauga edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     Liberal Vic Dhillon 28,926 46.18 $84,782.33
     Progressive Conservative (x)Tony Clement 26,414 42.17 $108,691.97
     New Democratic Party Chris Moise 5,103 8.15 $7,336.30
     Family Coalition Party Paul Micelli 1,122 1.79 no report filed
     Green Paul Simas 811 1.29 $1,000.06
     Freedom John G. Purdy 266 0.42 $0.00
Total valid votes 62,642 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 555
Turnout 63,197 50.84
Electors on the lists 124,317


1999 Ontario provincial election : Brampton West—Mississauga edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative (x)Tony Clement 24,909 55.87 $71,283.13
     Liberal Vic Dhillon 16,599 37.23 $70,662.58
     New Democratic Party John Devries 2,824 6.33 $7,000.00
     Natural Law Party Mei Sze Viau 252 0.57 $0.00
Total valid votes 44,584 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 501
Turnout 45,085 51.23
Electors on the lists 88,003

All election information is taken from Elections Ontario. Expenditure entries are taken from official candidate reports as listed by Elections Ontario. The figures cited are the Total Candidate's Campaign Expenses Subject to Limitation, and include transfers from constituency associations.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Natalia Williams, "Bill Davis country hit by aggressive campaigning", Toronto Star, 26 May 1999, p. 1; Bob Mitchell, "Rookie MPP is ready to work 24/7", Toronto Star, 23 December 2003, p. B03.
  2. ^ "Premier McGuinty shuffles parliamentary assistants", Canada NewsWire, 20 September 2006, 08:57.
  3. ^ Rita Daly, "MPPs target 'temp' boom", Toronto Star, 8 December 2006, A1.
  4. ^ Dino Sossi, "Too many cooks save the broth", Toronto Star, 29 December 2004, p. B02.
  5. ^ "Kennedy team discloses list of MPP supporters", Toronto Star, 22 June 2006, A2.