Harinder Malhi

Harinder Kaur Malhi^[1] (born c. 1981) is a former Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018 who represented the riding of Brampton—Springdale, and was a member of the Ontario provincial cabinet in the government of Kathleen Wynne.

Harinder Malhi
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Brampton—Springdale
In office June 12, 2014 – June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Linda Jeffrey
Succeeded by	Kevin Yarde (Brampton North)
Peel District School Board Trustee
In office 2010–2014
Constituency	Brampton Wards 9 and 10
Personal details
Born	1981 (age 43–44)
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Brampton
Alma mater	Ryerson University
Occupation	Real estate agent

Background

Malhi's family is of Indian descent, and she speaks Punjabi.^[2] Her father, Gurbax Singh Malhi, was a Liberal federal Member of Parliament between 1993 and 2011, representing the riding of Bramalea—Gore—Malton.^[3][4] Her mother is Devinder Malhi.^[5]

Malhi studied at Ryerson University, where she obtained a degree in public administration and governance.^[6] She worked as a sales agent at a telecommunications company in Brampton, and then as a real estate agent.^[7]

Politics

On 25 October 2010, she was elected as a school trustee for the Peel District School Board, representing Brampton wards 9 and 10, during the 2010 municipal election.^[6][7][8][9]

Malhi was selected as the Liberal candidate for the Brampton-Springdale riding after incumbent cabinet minister Linda Jeffrey vacated the seat in March 2014 to run for the mayor of Brampton.^[9] She was elected MPP in the 2014 election and took an unpaid leave of absence from her position as school trustee, during the campaign.^[10]

She served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport (2016–18), and as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister Responsible for Women's Issues (2014–16). In January 2018, she was promoted to cabinet as Minister of the Status of Women by Premier Kathleen Wynne.

In the 2018 provincial election she ran in the new riding of Brampton North, placing third, losing the seat to Kevin Yarde of the NDP.^[11] In the 2022 provincial election, she contested Brampton North once again, coming in second place, but this time losing to the Progressive Conservative candidate Graham McGregor.^[12]

Cabinet positions

Ontario provincial government of Kathleen Wynne

Elections

v t e 2022 Ontario general election: Brampton North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Graham McGregor	13,509	44.99	+8.70
	Liberal	Harinder K Malhi	8,639	28.77	+7.55
	New Democratic	Sandeep Singh	5,949	19.81	−17.73
	Green	Aneep Dhade	895	2.98	−0.47
	New Blue	Jerry Fussek	610	2.03
	Ontario Party	Julia Bauman	423	1.41
Total valid votes			30,025	100.0
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			203
Turnout			30,228	38.46
Eligible voters			78,501
	Progressive Conservative gain from Independent		Swing		+0.58
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023.

v t e 2018 Ontario general election: Brampton North
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Kevin Yarde	14,877	37.55	+6.24
	Progressive Conservative	Ripudaman Dhillon	14,380	36.29	+11.85
	Liberal	Harinder Malhi	8,410	21.22	-18.70
	Green	Pauline Thornham	1,366	3.45	+0.04
	Libertarian	Gregory Argue	591	1.49
Total valid votes			39,624	98.98
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			407	1.02
Turnout			40,031	51.58
Eligible voters			77,609
	New Democratic notional gain from Liberal		Swing		+12.47
Source: Elections Ontario[13]

2014 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harinder Malhi	16,848	39.8
	New Democratic	Gurpreet Dhillon	13,481	31.9
	Progressive Conservative	Pam Hundal	10,234	24.2
	Green	Laila Zarrabi Yan	1,322	3.1
	Communist	Elizabeth Hill	398	0.9
Source: Elections Ontario[14]

Peel District School Board, Wards 9 & 10
Candidate	Votes[15]	%
Harinder Malhi	9019	46.82%
Joy Adams	3242	16.83%
Jash Puniya	2453	12.73%
Mohan Singh Khangura	1838	9.54%
John Crowley	1633	8.48%
Devinder Jeet Singh	447	2.32%
Fatima Devonish	439	2.28%
Yadwinder Sahota	191	0.99%