Bal Gosal

Baljit Singh Gosal PC (Punjabi: ਬਲਜੀਤ ਗੋਸਲ; born May 4, 1960) is a Canadian politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the electoral district of Bramalea—Gore—Malton from 2011 until 2015. He served as Minister of State (Sport) in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.[1] Gosal was one of five visible minorities serving in the Harper cabinet. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Ramesh Sangha in the 2015 election.

The Honourable Baljit Singh Gosal ਬਲਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਗੋਸਲ PC
Minister of State for Sport
In office May 18, 2011 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Gary Lunn
Succeeded by	Carla Qualtrough
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Bramalea—Gore—Malton
In office May 2, 2011 – August 4, 2015
Preceded by	Gurbax Singh Malhi
Succeeded by	Riding Abolished
Personal details
Born	Baljit Singh Gosal (1960-05-04) May 4, 1960 Ratainda, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab, India
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Pawanjit Gosal
Profession	Insurance broker

Early life

Born in India, Gosal immigrated to Canada in 1981 settling in Northern British Columbia.[2] Soon after, he moved to Brampton with his wife, Pawanjit.[2] His formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from DAV College Jalander/Punjab University India in 1981 and a Stationary Engineer 4th class Certificate. Gosal began working in the financial sector first in 1984 for McDonnell Douglas Canada and later in 1994 for Prudential Insurance, which later became London Life. He started working in the Property and Casualty Insurance by joining Holman Insurance Brokers Ltd. and then later in 2004 Gosal joined Goodison Insurance and Financial Services and in 2008 he joined Rai Grant insurance brokers where he worked as an Insurance Broker and a Financial Security Advisor.[2]

An active member of the Brampton community, Gosal had been a member of the Peel Regional Police Services Board, Peel Children's Aid Society and on the Brampton Board of Trade Marketing Committee.[3] He also has coached and organized amateur soccer and volunteered at the YMCA.[2] Gosal served as the Treasurer and founding member of the Ontario Federation of Sports and Cultural Organization, and as the Director, past Secretary, and Treasurer of the Ontario Khalsa Darbar Sports and Cultural Centre.[2] He and his wife have three children.[4]

2011 election

In the 2011 election Gosal defeated long-time Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi and future NDP leader Jagmeet Singh in a close three-way race.[5]

Parliamentarian

As Minister of State for Sport, Gosal was the Minister responsible for Canada at the 2012 summer Olympics in London and lead the Canadian delegation to the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics. On June 29, 2012, Gosal announced the endorsement of all Canadian provincial ministers responsible for sport of the New Canadian Sport Policy.[6]

According to a social media analysis, Bal Gosal was one of Canada's most active MPs on Twitter.[7]

Controversy

During the 2015 federal election, one volunteer from Bal Gosal's campaign team were caught on video, destroying campaign signs for opposition candidates, prompting Liberal candidate Ramesh Sangha to file a complaint with Peel Regional Police and Elections Canada.[8] In a written statement, the Gosal campaign stated that it admonished the actions of the videotaped volunteers and had dismissed them from the campaign.[9]

Electoral record

Brampton Centre

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Ramesh Sangha	19,277	48.8%
	Conservative	Bal Gosal	13,345	33.8%
	New Democratic	Rosemary Keenan	5,893	14.9%
	Green	Saul Marquard T. Bottcher	844	2.1%
	Marxist–Leninist	Frank Chilelli	173	0.4%
Turnout			39,532	61.16%

Bramalea—Gore—Malton

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Bal Gosal	19,907	34.44%	-2.68%	–
	New Democratic	Jagmeet Singh Dhaliwal	19,368	33.51%	+24.49%	–
	Liberal	Gurbax Singh Malhi	16,402	29.40%	-15.65%	–
	Green	John Moulton	1,748	3.02%	-2.14%	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Frank Chilelli	371	0.64%	+0.02%
Total valid votes			57,796	100.00%	–
Total rejected ballots			–	–	–
Turnout			–	–	–	–

Source: Elections Canada

Brampton West

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Colleen Beaumier	27,988	49.1	+4.7
	Conservative	Bal Gosal	20,345	35.7	-4.3
	New Democratic	Jagtar Singh Shergill	6,310	11.1	+0.6
	Green	Jaipaul Massey-Singh	2,340	4.1	+0.7
Total valid votes			56,983	100.0

Etobicoke North

2003 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Shafiq Qaadri	16,727	53.98	+19.95
	Progressive Conservative	Baljit Gosal	6,978	22.52	-15.75
	New Democratic	Kuldip Singh Sodhi	3,516	11.35	-12.57
	Independent	Frank Acri	1,990	6.42
	Family Coalition	Teresa Ceolin	1,275	4.11	+2.41
	Green	Mir Kamal	503	1.62
Total valid votes			30,989	100.00

References

1. The Ministry - Prime Minister of Canada Archived 2008-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
2. About- Bal Gosal http://www.balgosal.com/?page_id=2
3. The Canadian Ministry http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/bio.asp?id=98 Archived 2012-05-23 at the Wayback Machine
4. http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1307462014191/1307464332128
5. Election 2011: Bramalea—Gore—Malton. The Globe and Mail, May 2, 2011.
6. Bal Gosal [@BalGosal] (27 June 2012). "Just received endorsement of our New Canadian Sport Policy by the Provincial and Territorial Ministers in Inuvik NWT" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/01/07/mps-tweet-big-but-fall-short-on-social/
8. Fraser, Laura (16 October 2015). "Brampton Liberals file police complaint alleging Conservatives broke signs". CBC News. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
9. Belgrave, Roger (16 October 2015). "VIDEO: Conservative volunteers booted after election signs toppled". Brampton Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2015.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Bal Gosal – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca