Vic Dhillon (born c. 1969) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Brampton West—Mississauga and Brampton West.

Vic Dhillon
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Brampton West
Brampton West—Mississauga (2003–2007)
In office
October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byTony Clement
Succeeded byAmarjot Sandhu
Personal details
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Political partyLiberal
ResidenceGrand Rapids, Michigan
OccupationBusinessman

Background

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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 executive assistant to Liberal MP Colleen Beaumier for over nine years.[1][2]

Politics

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Dhillon ran in the 1999 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Brampton West—Mississauga. He lost to high-profile Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement by 8,310 votes.[3] He ran again in the 2003 election and this time defeated Clement by 2,512 votes.[4] Most political observers considered this to be a significant upset. Strong support from the riding's Indo-Canadian community was a factor, as was a provincial swing to the Liberals. He was elected without difficulty in 2007 in the new riding of Brampton West.[5] He was re-elected in 2011, and 2014.[6][7]

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.[8]

He was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government Services on September 20, 2006.[9]

Dhillon supported Gerard Kennedy's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada in 2006.[10] In December 2006, he introduced a private member's bill to protect transient workers from exploitation by hiring agencies.[11] The bill was endorsed by the Toronto Star in the following week.[12]

Dhillon took part in an Ontario government business mission to India in January 2007.[13]

Until August 2016, Dhillon served as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. From August 2016 to May 2018, he served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services.

Dhillon ran for re-election in Brampton West in the 2018 Ontario election. He placed third, after the Progressive Conservative and New Democratic Party candidates.[14]

Electoral record

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2018 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Amarjot Sandhu 14,951 39.39 +15.05
New Democratic Jagroop Singh 14,461 38.09 +14.44
Liberal Vic Dhillon 7,013 18.47 −26.76
Green Julie Guillemet-Ackerman 999 2.63 −0.11
Libertarian David Shaw 364 0.96 −0.64
Communist Surjit Sahota 173 0.46 -
Total valid votes 37,961 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 268 0.71
Turnout 38,229 47.67
Eligible voters 80,196
Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal Swing -
Source: Elections Ontario[15]
2014 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Vic Dhillon 24,832 45.23 +1.47
Progressive Conservative Randeep Sandhu 13,363 24.34 −8.52
New Democratic Gugni Gill Panaich 12,985 23.65 +4.69
Green Sayyeda Ebrahim 1,504 2.74 −0.52
Libertarian Luis Chacin 878 1.60
Family Coalition Dan Sullivan 800 1.46
Freedom Ted Harlson 540 0.98 −0.18
Total valid votes 54,902 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 952 1.70
Turnout 55,854
Eligible voters 131,434
Liberal hold Swing +5.03
Source:Elections Ontario[16]
2007 Ontario general election: Brampton West
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal Vic Dhillon 20,730 46.2
Progressive Conservative Mark Beckles 15,111 33.7
New Democratic Garth Bobb 4,893 10.9
Green Sanjeev Goel 3,472 7.7
Family Coalition Norah Madden 487 1.1
Independent Gurdial Singh Fiji 191 0.4
Total valid votes
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout 44,884 44.4
Electors on the lists
2003 Ontario general election: Brampton West—Mississauga
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal Vic Dhillon 28,926 46.18 $84,782.33
Progressive Conservative Tony Clement 26,414 42.17 $108,691.97
New Democratic Chris Moise 5,103 8.15 $7,336.30
Family Coalition 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 general election: Brampton West—Mississauga
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Tony Clement 24,909 55.87 $71,283.13
Liberal Vic Dhillon 16,599 37.23 $70,662.58
New Democratic John Devries 2,824 6.33 $7,000.00
Natural Law 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

References

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  1. ^ Williams, Natalia (26 May 1999). "Bill Davis country hit by aggressive campaigning". Toronto Star. p. 1.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Bob (23 December 2003). "Rookie MPP is ready to work 24/7". Toronto Star. p. B3.
  3. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 3 June 1999. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 2 October 2003. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 2 (xi). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  6. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  7. ^ "General Election by District: Brampton West". Elections Ontario. 12 June 2014.
  8. ^ Sossi, Dino (29 December 2004). "Too many cooks save the broth". Toronto Star. p. B2.
  9. ^ "Premier McGuinty shuffles parliamentary assistants". Canada NewsWire. 20 September 2006.
  10. ^ "Kennedy team discloses list of MPP supporters". Toronto Star. 22 June 2006. p. A2.
  11. ^ Daly, Rita (8 December 2006). "MPPs target 'temp' boom". Toronto Star. p. A1.
  12. ^ "License 'temp' agencies". Toronto Star. 11 December 2006. p. A18.
  13. ^ "Premier Kicks Off Business Mission To India". Canada NewsWire. 14 January 2007.
  14. ^ "Ontario election 2018: Brampton West riding". Global News. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  16. ^ Elections Ontario (17 June 2014). "Official return from the records, 008 Brampton West" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2015.[permanent dead link]
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