Wow! This is a big blow to Brar's team - they signed up 6,000 members and got less than a 20% turnout. The emporer clearly had no clothes and neither did Brar's team. Concerns over the quality of memberships were right on and the lesson is clear - do not be intimated by mass membership signups. This demonstrates how little the Conservative Party establishment understands the Indo-Cdn community.

The Conservatives don't get the Indo-community. Instead of supporting guys like Brar, intelligent articulate guys like Dhillon might serve them better. Though Sandeep I think will do better than Brar.

CONGRATULATIONS SANDEEP PANDHER!!...great victory over Paul Brar..I am still surprised about how many people thought Heather Stilwell would have a chance in this.

Yay, the Liberal wins!

Power before principals?

WHo the hell is Sandeep Pandher?

Congraats sandeep, now Sukh has a real challenege

Sandeep is a Ministerial Assistant for Lawrence Cannon.

Who the hell is Lawrance Cannon? and does anyone really care if Sandeep is a Ministerial Assistant?

Want counts if this guy can actually win the riding from Skuh Dhaliwal on his own, or is he going to be the benificiary of
favoured candidate status over the expense of others who really could use extra help?

Actually hes the parliamentary assistant to the parliamentary secretary to Cannon.

congraulations to sandip we need young and educated people like him to represent indo canadians

I was at the nomination meeting all day... there was a who's who of the Tory establishment in Ottawa roaming around, and I don't believe were there to back Brar.

"I was at the nomination meeting all day... there was a who's who of the Tory establishment in Ottawa roaming around, and I don't believe were there to back Brar"

If they were there, they should have been there to work, as in register members who wanted to vote, rather than roaming around trying to look important.

People are forgettin the bottom line here. It doesn't matter who won the Conservative Nomination. Sandeep Pandher and Sukh Dhaliwal, both being male Indo-Canadian's are going to have to go againt Theresa Townsley, a caucasian female. My guess is that Sukh and Sandeep will duke it out for the Indo-Canadian vote, thereby splitting the Indo-Canadian vote which will help Theresa who topped the Delta School Board Elections last time around.

Roger - if your logic is correct, then Townsley will get very little of the south asian vote. If that is correct, she cannot win the race. No one in Surrey knows who the heck Townsley is - who cares about Delta School Board if you live in Surrey? Either Dhaliwal or Pandher are going to win. Dhaliwal benefited last time from being the only south asian in the race - this time, Pandher will take south asian votes away from Dhaliwal. This is a swing riding and a great race to watch.

"People are forgettin the bottom line here. It doesn't matter who won the Conservative Nomination. Sandeep Pandher and Sukh Dhaliwal, both being male Indo-Canadian's are going to have to go againt Theresa Townsley, a caucasian female. My guess is that Sukh and Sandeep will duke it out for the Indo-Canadian vote, thereby splitting the Indo-Canadian vote which will help Theresa who topped the Delta School Board Elections last time around. "

Who the heck is Theresa Townsley? Some NDP wannabe candidate?

I concur with comments made by "Give me a Break" in that the Indo-Canadian votes are crucial. No candidate can exclude this group, regardless of which party they are from. But this riding is NOT called Newton on its own....it's called Newton-North Delta. No candidate can ignore North Delta just like they can't ignore Newton. All I am stating is the fact that Theresa Townsley TOPPED the school Board Elections in the last municipal election. Let me remind the people here that in the last federal election Sukh Dhaliwal was the lone Indo-Canadian candidate while the others were caucasian and at the end Sukh won. This time, there are two Indo-Canadian candidates and only one female caucasian. Surely this is not something that can be ignored.

"This time, there are two Indo-Canadian candidates and only one female caucasian. Surely this is not something that can be ignored. "

Bein' a bit racist there Roger?

Doesn't matter what a person is, what does matter who the person is.

You're also forgetting that Delta School Board elections aren't limited to Newton North Delta exclusively.

I also agree with Newton Norm that it shouldn't matter what a person is, but the person at the end, but what my dear friend is forgetting is that politics in the Lowermainland has changed significantly. Ethnicity matters. Saying that race doesn't matter is like saying that an Indo-Canadian can win in Chiliwack or Langley....like that is ever going to happen, at least not in the near future or try putting in a Chinese candidate in Surrey...it just aint going happen....you don't need a PhD to figure that out. Bottom line is that race and ethnicity matters. I'm not saying that it should or shouldn't but people have to think why is it that political parties are focusing so much on the ethnic vote.

"Sandeep Pandher and Sukh Dhaliwal, both being male Indo-Canadian's are going to have to go againt Theresa Townsley, a caucasian female. My guess is that Sukh and Sandeep will duke it out for the Indo-Canadian vote, thereby splitting the Indo-Canadian vote...."

Do you remember who the candidates were in 2004? There were two "Indo-Canadian" males, and one "Caucasian" female.

Do you remember what the outcome was?

Hey, Roger

Party matters too and that Delta area is also an old John Cummins Reform area with quite a few solid blue Conservatives who don't much like Taliban Jack and his metrosexual Toronto way of doing things.

It's not all about race and as long as an Indo Canadian candidate can speak understandable English, it makes no difference.

I'll be interested to see whether Sandeep calls Mr. Holman back regarding his previous affiliation with the Liberal Party.

He said on the record that he was never a 'card carrying' Liberal and if that turns out to he may have been an Ontario Liberal.

If our elected Conservative candidate isn't being honest about something like this I wonder what would happen if he's elected and the pressure is really on.