By Irshad Salim

NEW JERSEY, JAN 10 - A research conducted recently in Canada makes some interesting observations on South Asian immigrants. For example, Canadian Sikhs are one of the most affluent racial minority communities and Punjabi is the fourth most popular language spoken on Parliament Hills besides English, French and Italian.

The high turnout of Canadian Muslims in 2004 general elections made them appear to have had a say in the victory of the Liberals for whom an overwhelming majority of Muslims cast their votes. More than 80% of eligible Canadian Muslim voters had cast their ballots, according to an exit poll which was conducted by the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC).

There are more than 700,000 Muslims in Canada, making them the largest non-Christian religious community in the country.

In short, South Asians, Muslims, Sikhs, Indians, Pakistanis et al - are making a difference. Influencing Canadian politics more than ever.

The study observes that:

-- Half of Mississauga's MPs, who are all Liberals, are South Asians including Ruby Dhalla, Navdeep Bains, Wajid Khan and Gurbax Malhi.

Wajid is a successful businessman, who won a parliament seat in the suburban Toronto constituent of Mississauga-Streetsville. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Mr. Khan is the President and CEO of an automobile dealership in Toronto. Khan established himself as a leading member of the Canadian business elite and an influential voice of Toronto's Muslim community.

Meanwhile, Ruby Dhalla, an Indo-Canadian, created history as one of the first South Asian woman to sit in the House of Commons in Canada. Her political stint began at the tender age of 12 when she volunteered for Liberal Party of Canada as part of a national youth program. She is a healthcare professional and runs several clinics in Brampton, Toronto, Mississauga and Aurora along with her brother, Neil - also a chiropractor.

While minorities (including South Asians) have made breakthroughs at the provincial and federal levels, the same gains have not been made by them in municipal politics though, where incumbents (non-minorities) across Ontario have an extremely high success rate in winning re-elections.

Minorities accounted for 43 per cent of Toronto's population, but held only 11 per cent of Toronto City Council seats.

In other words, contrary to conventional wisdom, minority candidates may have a better chance of being elected in certain 905 regions than in the city of Toronto.

-- Statistically, it helps to be South Asian rather than from another ethnic group.

-- Greater Toronto Area (GTA) municipalities have high proportions of  minorities: Markham (55.5 per cent), Richmond Hill, Mississauga and Brampton (all about 40 per cent).

-- Of the 21 minority politicians counted in the study, more than half were elected in just the five selected 905 municipalities. Eleven of them are South Asians; five black; four Chinese; and one Korean.

-- Brampton is one of the very few places in Canada where minorities are  "overwhelmingly over-represented" statistically in elected offices.

Though they represent less than 20 per cent of the municipality's population, South Asians hold 71 per cent of its federal and provincial seats.

According to the study, a strong electoral culture of the South Asians in their country of origin helps explain their relative success as comparison to other minority groups — for example the Chinese community, which makes up 38 per cent of Markham's population but has successfully sent only one representative each to the local council and provincial parliament.

"Knowledge of the English language and familiarity with democratic processes tend to be higher among newcomers from India and Pakistan than from other countries without British colonial pasts, making any necessary transitions into the Canadian political system easier," the study found.

The research study titled Seeking Political Inclusion: The Case of South Asian Political Representation in Peel Region was conducted by Ian Matheson, a graduate student in immigration and settlement issues at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.