Prabmeet Sarkaria

Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction for the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario during the 2018 general election. He represents the riding of Brampton South and is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.[1][2]

The Honourable Prabmeet Sarkaria MPP
ਪ੍ਰਮੀਤ ਸਰਕਾਰੀਆ
Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction
Incumbent
Assumed office June 20, 2019
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Position established
Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General
In office April 4, 2019 – June 20, 2019
Premier	Doug Ford
Succeeded by	Christine Hogarth and Belinda Karahalios
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
In office June 7, 2018 – April 4, 2019
Premier	Doug Ford
Succeeded by	position discontinued
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Brampton South
Incumbent
Assumed office June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Riding re-established
Personal details
Born	August 2, 1988
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Residence	Brampton, Ontario
Alma mater	Wilfrid Laurier University (BA) University of Windsor (J.D.)
Occupation	Corporate lawyer

Sarkaria is the first turban-wearing Sikh cabinet minister in Ontario.

Personal Life

Sarkaria is a Sikh and grew up in Brampton, Ontario before being educated at Wilfrid Laurier University where he studied Finance.[3]

After working at TD Securities, Sarkaria completed his Juris Doctor at the University of Windsor.[3] He worked at Miller Thomson as an associate corporate lawyer until his election.[3]

Sarkaria’s parents immigrated from Punjab, India in the 1980s. His father drove a taxi and mother worked in a factory until they later became small business owners, after purchasing an inn outside of Orangeville. [4]

Before entering provincial politics, Sarkaria served on the City of Brampton’s Property Standards Committee, and was an organizer for the annual Hockey for Humanity tournament. He was also the former Ontario Vice President of the World Sikh Organization, an organization that advocates for the Sikh community diaspora. [5]

Sarkaria and his wife, Sarpreet, had their first child, a daughter named Deyva, in May 2020. [6]

Sarkaria is an avid sports fan and a supporter of the Toronto Raptors. In one interview, he admitted to having Raptor’s championship banners and a basketball hoop in his ministerial office.

In November 2020, Toronto Life magazine listed Sarkaria in its list of the Top 50 Most Influential Torontonians. It was Sarkaria’s first year on the list, ranking 49th. [7]

Political positions

Prabmeet Sarkaria was nominated to be the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party’s candidate for Brampton South on December 8, 2016. [8]

42nd Parliament of Ontario

Prior to his appointment to the Ontario cabinet, Sarkaria was the Chair of the Select Committee on Financial Transparency and also served on the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. He also previously served as the parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General (formerly known as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services).[9]

He stepped down as the parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General on June 20, 2019 when he was appointed to the Executive Council of Ontario as the new Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

In the post, Sarkaria led the government’s bi-annual red tape reduction packages which have become a hallmark of the Ford Government. Sarkaria twice received the grade of “A-“ in the Canadian Federation for Independent Business’s annual report card for red tape reduction, the highest grade the province has ever received. He was specifically recognized for regulatory transparency in his annual report, well as the passage of the province's red tape reduction legislation, ‘the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act, 2020’ and two regulatory modernization bills, ‘the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act’ 2019 and 2020. In 2021, Sarkaria stated that his government’s has actions has resulted a 4.2% reduction in outdated or duplicative regulations and an annual savings to business of $331 million. [10]

COVID-19

Sarkaria’s profile in Ontario politics significantly increased as he served as the minister responsible for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical time for small businesses throughout the country. Sarkaria became a regular at Premier Ford’s media briefings which were daily throughout most of 2020.

At the beginning of the pandemic Sarkaria launched a Tackling the Barriers portal for small businesses to suggest ideas to the province regarding changes that would help them tackle the challenges of COVID-19. [11] Ideas received, resulted in over 50 permanent and temporary changes to assist businesses, including permitting 24 hour truck deliveries to grocery stores and pharmacies, tax deferrals and most notably, permitting restaurants to offer alcohol with takeout and delivery orders. [12]

Sarkaria introduced three pieces of legislation to assist small businesses with the challenges of COVID-19 and launched two grant programs, a general up to $20,000 small business grant and a second which focused on refunding small businesses for personal protective equipment costs. [13] Sarkaria’s Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020 received significant attention as it capped fees charged by delivery apps to restaurants during the pandemic - a first in the country, which was later replicated in other provinces. [14]

Electoral results

2018 Ontario general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Prabmeet Sarkaria	15,652	41.01%
	New Democratic	Paramjit Gill	12,919	33.85%
	Liberal	Sukhwant Thethi	7,212	18.89%
	Green	Lindsay Falt	1,472	3.86%
	Libertarian	Brian Watson	363	0.95%
	Trillium	John Grant	337	0.88%
	Freedom	Ted Harlson	214	0.56%
Total valid votes				100.0
Source: Elections Ontario[15]
	Progressive Conservative pickup new district.

Cabinet posts

References

1. "Progressive Conservative Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria takes provincial victory in Brampton South". BramptonGuardian.com. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
2. "NDP Sara Singh beats PCs rival by 89 votes in Brampton Centre". The Star. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
3. https://www.linkedin.com/in/prabmeet-sarkaria-9527b140/?originalSubdomain=ca
4. ""Newborns and politicians-in-crisis keep similar hours": Small business minister Prabmeet Sarkaria on becoming a new dad while trying to save the economy". Toronto Life. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
5. "Lawyer Prabmeet Sarkaria candidate for Ontario PC Party in Brampton South". Brampton Guardian. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
6. ""Newborns and politicians-in-crisis keep similar hours": Small business minister Prabmeet Sarkaria on becoming a new dad while trying to save the economy". Toronto Life. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
7. "The Influentials 2020". Toronto Life. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
8. "Lawyer Prabmeet Sarkaria candidate for Ontario PC Party in Brampton South". Brampton Guardian. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
9. https://www.ola.org/en/members/all/prabmeet-singh-sarkaria
10. "Ontario Remains among the Best in the Country for Reducing Red Tape". Government of Ontario. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
11. "Coronavirus outbreak: Ontario government launches online portal to address COVID-19 barriers". Global News. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
12. "Ontario Small Business Support Grant will help weather second wave storm". Toronto Sun. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
13. "Ontario Small Business Support Grant will help weather second wave storm". Toronto Sun. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
14. "Caps for food delivery services to be implemented in Ontario this weekend". CTV News. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
15. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 December 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.