Evidence of meeting #134 for Public Safety and National Security in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was campaign.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
I only have 15 seconds left. I think I'll leave it for my colleagues to finish up.
I thank you for being here and for sharing your testimony with us.
Liberal
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Brown. Welcome to the committee.
Ms. Damoff asked some questions I was curious about as well, so I'm going to continue with that line of questioning, if you don't mind.
When exactly did your leadership campaign start and end? Do you recall the dates or how long it was?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
The leadership race was in 2022. I think it formally began in March. Obviously, it concluded for me in early July.
I would note that Erin O'Toole losing his confidence vote within caucus is when you really saw some of the campaigning begin. I believe it was early in the year when he lost that confidence vote.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
You announced that you were going to run for the leadership in March 2022, if I understand correctly. You withdrew from the race in July 2022.
Is that correct?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I believe my announcement was in March, yes.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
If I understood your remarks correctly, you weren't in contact with representatives of the Indian government during your campaign.
Is that correct?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I did not have any conversations with representatives of the Indian government during the leadership campaign.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
I imagine you still had meetings and discussions with members of the Indian community in Brampton or elsewhere in Canada.
Would I be right about that?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
Absolutely. We had a robust membership campaign across the country, and those who have ancestry and heritage in India were very much a part of that membership drive.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
At no time did any of them talk to you about the Indian government's interests or wishes?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
On a campaign, you hear a lot that is hearsay. I am not going to repeat hearsay before a parliamentary committee, but you have thousands of conversations and I would say you hear a lot from the community.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Did you encounter situations where members of the Indian community criticized your position on policy issues concerning Canada?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
Certainly, I heard criticism about some of the positions I had taken.
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Were those criticisms in support of the Indian government's position? Was it more trivial?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I would say the criticism I was hearing from members of the community related to positions I had taken. At the time, it was on the heels of a very large farmers' protest in India, and Brampton city council was one of the first voices in Canada to support it. We had a widely publicized vigil for Deep Sidhu, who was one of the heroes of the farmers' protests I attended that caused—
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Thank you.
I don't want to cut you off, but you know how committees work. We don't get a lot of time.
Do you know what percentage of Brampton's population is of Indian heritage?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I think the community that has its ancestry in India is quite large in Brampton. It would be the largest segment of our population, as it is a growing segment of the population in Canada.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
If I were to say 25%, would I be wrong or close to the right number?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I would say the assessments are probably underestimated. I don't think we have an accurate gauge on the population of the city of Brampton in any recent census. I hear the public census numbers are 700,000, but we have some estimates over 900,000, and that's largely due to immigration from India. The numbers could be much larger than you suggested.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Do you have an idea of the percentage of the population that is from the Sikh community?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
There are large populations from India in Brampton, but the largest community in Brampton from India would be those of Sikh background.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
I would think the problem or division between the Sikh community and the Indian community in India is something you encounter on a daily basis. You must hear about it a lot in Brampton. Don't you?
Mayor of Brampton, As an Individual
I don't like to hear about it. I try to bring harmony to those issues and bridge those divisions. Certainly, last month, I heard a lot about it. We had some tensions. They emerge from time to time in Brampton. We have to deal with tensions between communities.
I would say that by and large, the vast majority of the Sikh and Hindu communities get along, but there are incidents that damage the sense of unity.
