Bal Gosal

Baljit Singh Gosal (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. Gosal was one of five visible minorities serving in the Harper cabinet. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Ramesh Sangha in the 2015 election.

Early life Baljit Singh Gosal was born on May 4, 1960 in Ratainda, in the Nawanshahr District of Punjab, India into a Jatt Sikh family. Gosal immigrated to Canada in 1981 settling in Northern British Columbia. Soon after, he moved to Brampton with his wife, Pawanjit. He also has coached and organized amateur soccer and volunteered at the YMCA.

Politics In the 2003 provincial election, Gosal unsuccessfully ran for the PC party in Etobicoke North.

In the 2006 federal election, Gosal ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in Brampton West.

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

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.

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

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. In a written statement, the Gosal campaign stated that it admonished the actions of the videotaped volunteers and had dismissed them from the campaign. Gosal lost re-election.

In 2018, Gosal unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Brampton.

Electoral record Municipal 2018 Brampton Mayoral Election Vote %Patrick Brown 46,89444.43 Linda Jeffrey (X) 42,993 40.73 Baljit Gosal 5,319 5.04 John Sprovieri 5,0284.76 Wesley Jackson 2,442 2.31 Vinod Kumar Mahesan 1,9051.80 Mansoor Ameersulthan 9720.92

Brampton Centre

Bramalea—Gore—Malton

Source: Elections Canada

Brampton West =

Etobicoke North