User:Madg2011/List of turbaned Sikh Canadian legislators

Turbaned Sikh legislators have served in both federal and provincial legislatures in Canada.

Sikhism has had a presence in Canada since the late 1800s. However, only in the 1990s did turban-wearing Sikhs become prominent in Canadian public life, as Punjabi immigrant populations grew, especially in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver. In 1990, the Baltej Dhillon case allowed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers to wear the turban while on duty, and paved the way for a greater acceptance of turbaned Sikhs in government and public service roles. Gurbax Singh Malhi, elected in Bramalea—Gore—Malton in the 1993 federal election, was the first turbaned Sikh legislator in Canadian history, and the first anywhere in the Western world. At the time, parliamentary protocol had to be changed to allow Malhi to wear his turban on the floor of the House of Commons.

Canada has elected significantly more turbaned Sikh legislators than other comparable Western countries. No turbaned politicians have been elected to federal legislatures in Australia or the United States. Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the United Kingdom's first turbaned MP, was elected in 2017, 23 years after Malhi in Canada. New Zealand's first turbaned MP, Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, was elected in 2008.

Note that this is not a list of Sikh legislators in Canada, as there have been many members of both federal and provincial legislatures who identify as Sikh, yet do not wear the turban (including, notably, former British Columbia Premier Ujjal Dosanjh). It also does not include those turbaned Sikhs who have unsuccessfully run in federal and provincial elections.

House of Commons
Seven turbaned Sikhs have sat in the House of Commons of Canada as Members of Parliament. Six sat as Liberals - one of whom later left the caucus to become an Independent - one as a Conservative. Three of the seven represented seats in Ontario and two represented seats in each of Alberta and British Columbia. Three turbaned Sikh MPs have served in the Cabinet of Canada.

The 2015 federal election saw five turbaned Sikhs elected to the House of Commons, the most ever in a single election.

Senate
One turbaned Sikh has been appointed to the Senate of Canada.

Provincial
Three turbaned Sikhs have been elected to provincial legislatures in Canada.

Alberta
Two turbaned Sikhs have been elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Both turbaned MLAs were elected in the 2008 provincial election, making them jointly the first turbaned Sikhs to serve in a Canadian provincial legislature. One of the two, Manmeet Bhullar, was the first turbaned Sikh provincial Cabinet minister in Canada.

Ontario
One turbaned Sikh has been elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.