New Brampton Councillor Navjit Kaur Brar first turban-wearing Sikh woman elected in Canada

New Brampton City Councillor Navjit Kaur Brar is the first turban-wearing Sikh woman elected to office in Canada.

One of just four newcomers on Brampton City Council, Brar won her race for City Councillor in Wards 2 and 6, according to early results from the City of Brampton, replacing Coun. Doug Whillans who did not seek reelection.

Brar won with more than 28 per cent of the vote. The closest candidate in the race was former Brampton Conservative MP candidate Jermaine Chambers with over 22 per cent of the ballots.

She previously ran as the Ontario NDP candidate in Brampton West, losing out to incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP Amarjot Sandhu.

Around 40 percent of Brampton’s population is South Asian, and Monday’s municipal election also fell on the religious festival of Diwali, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

Brar will fill a seat previously held by Whillans, who often voted against Mayor Patrick Brown and his supporters on council.

The last few months of council business in Brampton were marked by fighting and gridlock as a fractured council butted heads over cancelled meetings, scrapped investigations and audits, allegations of corruption at city hall, and a controversial motion to fill a council seat before it was declared vacant.

You can follow all the election night results in Brampton by visiting the insauga.com live election page.