Didja know, eh?
Our American cousins at the venerable
Washington Post have had a look at Justin Trudeau's cabinet and discovered that Canada now has the
"most Sikh" cabinet in the world.
Among the diverse crowd are four ministers of Sikh origin — a conspicuously high number when you consider that India, where most Sikhs live, only counts two Sikhs in current senior cabinet-level positions.
The instant star was defence minister Harjit Sajjan. The others?
The others are Amarjeet Sohi, sworn in as Canada's minister of infrastructure; Navdeep Bains, 38, a business school professor who now has the portfolio for innovation, science and economic development; and Bardish Chagger, 35, a daughter of Sikh immigrants who was sworn in as minister of small business and tourism.
Punjabi, the language of the Indian state that's the homeland of most Sikhs, is now effectively the third language of Canada's parliament. Nineteen Indian Canadians in total were voted into the 338-seat House of Commons in Ottawa in federal elections last month.
There you go. That should be enough to win you a free coffee bet with your buddies at Tim Hortons.
Racial Imbalance! Sikhs make up 0.3% of the Canadian population and yet represent 5.6% of the House of Commons. Enough to set your hair on fire!
ReplyDeleteMe bad. Further research indicates Indians make up 4% of Canadian population. 19 out of 338 House of Commoners = 5.6%. Sikhs are 1.5% of the population. 2 out of 338 = 0.6%. Other than that, gender balance seems to be on track!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the confusion.
Thanks, John. I did the math too but wasn't going to say anything. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteIs there anyone with Chinese ancestry in cabinet?
ReplyDeleteHow many MPs are there...?
A..non