Iqwinder Gaheer
{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1993)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Iqwinder Gaheer
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|MP|size=100%}}
| imagesize = 200px
| image = File:Gaheer.jpg
| caption =
| riding1 = Mississauga—Malton
| parliament1 = Canadian
| term_start1 = September 20, 2021
| predecessor1 = Navdeep Bains
| birth_place = Punjab, India
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1993|07|12}}
| occupation = Politician, Lawyer
| nationality = Canadian
| known_for =
| party = Liberal
| alma_mater = Schulich School of Business, York University (BBA)
Harvard Law School (JD)
| residence = Mississauga, Ontario
}}
Iqwinder Singh Gaheer {{post-nominals|country=CAN|MP}} (born July 12, 1993) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Mississauga—Malton in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 Canadian federal election.{{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/local-mississauga/news/federal-election/2021/09/21/liberal-newcomer-iqwinder-gaheer-secures-seat-in-mississauga-malton-riding.html | title=Liberal newcomer Iqwinder Gaheer secures seat in Mississauga-Malton riding | publisher=The Star | work=Sabrina Gamrot | date=21 September 2021 | accessdate=21 September 2021}}
Early life and career
Gaheer was born in Punjab, India to Maninder Singh, a construction worker and plumber, and Baljit Kaur, a homemaker. Gaheer's father had immigrated to Canada in 1992.{{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal-election/2021/09/18/uninterested-unhappy-but-not-quite-ready-for-change-why-apathy-in-some-toronto-suburbs-might-let-trudeau-keep-his-job.html | title=Iqwinder Gaheer: from humble beginnings to Liberal candidate for Mississauga-Malton | publisher=The Pointer | work=Natasha O'Neill | date=4 September 2021 | accessdate=27 September 2021}} He and the rest of his family joined his father in Canada in 1999.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} Describing his early life, the Toronto Star wrote, "Gaheer has a compelling, almost made for politics, story. He was born in a small village in the Punjab. He moved to Canada when he was six years old. He spent his summers growing up in Peel working on his father’s plumbing crew."{{cite web | url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal-election/2021/09/18/uninterested-unhappy-but-not-quite-ready-for-change-why-apathy-in-some-toronto-suburbs-might-let-trudeau-keep-his-job.html | title=Uninterested, unhappy, but not quite ready for change: Why apathy in some Toronto suburbs might let Trudeau keep his job | publisher=The Star | work=Richard Warnica | date=18 September 2021 | accessdate=27 September 2021}}
Gaheer graduated from Bramalea Secondary School in Brampton. After completing high school, Gaheer attended the Schulich School of Business, York University where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} He then went on to attend Harvard Law School from 2016 to 2019, where he served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. Beginning in September 2019, Gaheer worked in New York City, in the litigation department of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a large international corporate law firm.
Political career
In his first election in 2021, Gaheer won the Liberal nomination for the riding of Mississauga—Malton by acclamation,{{cite news |last=Loriggio |first=Paola |date=September 3, 2021 |title=Bains not running, but still influential in Mississauga-Malton election: expert |url=https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2021/09/03/bains-not-running-but-still-influential-in-mississauga-malton-election-expert/ |url-status=live |work=LethbridgeNewsNow |agency=The Canadian Press |location= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523213523/https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2021/09/03/bains-not-running-but-still-influential-in-mississauga-malton-election-expert/ |archive-date=May 23, 2024 |access-date=May 23, 2024}} and won the seat with approximately 53 per cent of the total vote.{{cite news |last=Gamrot |first=Sabrina |date=September 21, 2021 |title=Liberal newcomer Iqwinder Gaheer secures seat in Mississauga-Malton riding |url=https://www.mississauga.com/politics/federal-elections/liberal-newcomer-iqwinder-gaheer-secures-seat-in-mississauga-malton-riding/article_c4f5290c-90a2-5b70-9bcf-a55a29c1a60d.html |url-status=live |work=Mississauga.com |location=Mississauga, Ontario |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523214113/https://www.mississauga.com/politics/federal-elections/liberal-newcomer-iqwinder-gaheer-secures-seat-in-mississauga-malton-riding/article_c4f5290c-90a2-5b70-9bcf-a55a29c1a60d.html |archive-date=May 23, 2024 |access-date=May 23, 2024}}{{cite news |author= |date=September 20, 2021 |title=Canada election results: Mississauga–Malton |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7914018/canada-election-mississauga-malton-2021/ |url-status=live |work=Global News |location= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129142712/https://globalnews.ca/news/7914018/canada-election-mississauga-malton-2021/ |archive-date=January 29, 2022 |access-date=May 23, 2024}} Gaheer was elected chair of the [https://www.ourcommons.ca/committees/en/SECU Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security] in November 2024, and held it until Parliament was prorogued in January 2025.{{Cite web |title=Roles - Iqwinder Gaheer - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada |url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/iqwinder-gaheer(110534)/roles |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230607103320/https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/iqwinder-gaheer(110534)/roles |archive-date=2023-06-07 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.ourcommons.ca |language=en}}
In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsed Mark Carney.{{Cite web |last=Lévesque |first=Catherine |date=January 15, 2025 |title=MPs are rallying to Carney and Freeland as they prepare leadership bids |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/liberal-leadership-carney-freeland |website=National Post}}
Electoral record
{{2025 Canadian federal election/Mississauga—Malton}}
{{2021 Canadian federal election/Mississauga—Malton}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=20241}}
{{Current Members of the Canadian House of Commons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaheer, Iqwinder}}
Category:Canadian people of Punjabi descent
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:Indian emigrants to Canada
Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Category:People associated with Kirkland & Ellis
Category:Politicians from Mississauga
Category:York University alumni
Category:21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada