Raminder Gill
Brampton 43° 41' 9.00" N, 79° 45' 35.77" W Politician Person
Raminder Singh Gill is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003, and has unsuccessfully sought election to the Canadian House of Commons on three separate occasions. He currently serves as a citizenship judge.<ref name="CIC">Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Profiles of citizenship judges. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2011-10-08</ref>
Gill was born to a Sikh family in Punjab, India.<ref name="inside"> </ref> He was educated at Parkdale Collegiate and later attended the University of Toronto where he graduated with a Master's Degree in Engineering.<ref name="inside"/> He works as a Chemical Engineer in private life, and has invented environmentally friendly products such as "The Alternative Bleach", offered by the President's Choice company. He started a private firm called Genpro Canada Ltd in 1990. Gill has been a director of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of Canada, and is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario. He was also a founding member of the Malton Cougars Soccer Club.
In 1982, he ran for a seat on Peel District School Board, but lost.
In 1993 he sought the federal Liberal nomination for Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale, but lost to Gurbax Malhi.
Gill first ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1997 federal election, as a Progressive Conservative in the riding of Mississauga West. He finished third, well behind Liberal Steve Mahoney.
In the 1999 provincial election, Gill ran for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives in the riding of Bramalea--Gore--Malton--Springdale, which has a large Indian-Canadian community. The riding is located in the "905 region", which at the time was a primary base of support for the Ontario Tories. Gill was elected, defeating Liberal Dave Toor by about 4,000 votes.<ref name=CIC/>
He was not appointed to cabinet by either Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. In 2002, he supported Tony Clement for the leadership of the Ontario Tories.
The Liberal Party made strong gains in the 905 area in the 2003 provincial election, and Gill lost his seat to Liberal candidate Kuldip Singh Kular by almost 4,000 votes, following a bitter and divisive campaign.
In the Canadian general election of 2004, Gill ran as a candidate of the Conservative Party in the redistributed riding of Bramalea--Gore--Malton. Although this seat was actively targeted by the Conservatives, Gill lost to incumbent Liberal Gurbax Singh Malhi by 7,800 votes.
Gill announced his decision to quit politics after the election. [1] He later reconsidered, and ran in the 2006 federal election in the riding of Mississauga—Streetsville, against Liberal incumbent Wajid Khan. He lost that contest as well, losing by about 5800 votes to Khan.<ref name="canada"> </ref> That fall, Gill was appointed as a citizenship judge, a move that was considered a patronage appointment by some.<ref name="canada"/> Gill had been "fasttracked" into the post, bypassing the usual screening process.<ref> </ref> In 2009, he was reappointed to this position.<ref> </ref>