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Sukhman Sangha says he has strong plans to advocate for an area of Brampton that is seeing rapid housing and population growth — but not enough planning to support that.
Garnering 7,406 votes on Monday, 29-year-old Sangha beat former councillor Gurpreet Singh Dhillon by just 286 votes to become Brampton’s youngest regional councillor. He will represent northeast wards 9 and 10.
“I want to bring a whole other generational perspective to council,” he told CBC News.
One of two fresh faces on council, Sangha is a lawyer who previously served as a senior adviser to Ontario’s Transport Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria.
Born and raised in northeast Brampton, Sangha said he believes services in his ward have not kept up with its growth and development.
“For example, we’re the only ward pairing that doesn’t have a close-by police station and we have a shortage of recreational centre space,” he said, adding that the closest police station is near Bramalea City Centre, which can be up to a 45 minute drive during traffic.
“That’s unacceptable for our residents,” he said. “They feel that they’ve been ignored and they need a new perspective, a new vision and a new advocate to fight for the community.”
Sangha said he plans to meet with Peel Regional Police to discuss how to increase police patrols in the evenings and improve response times.
The councillor-elect said he also aims to attract more investments to Brampton, especially amid the ongoing trade war with the United States, which has hit the city’s manufacturing sector. Earlier this month, Ottawa announced $26 million to help affected businesses in the Greater Toronto Area.
Sangha said he’s also focused on affordability, and opposes increases to property taxes and minor variance fees, which property owners must pay to the city when asking for exemptions to local zoning requirements, such as driveway widths and building heights.
Over the last four years, residential minor variance applications in Brampton have gone up from around $720 to upwards of $12,000.
“Right now, people are just in a tough time,” said Sangha. “We have to get [costs] lowered so that regular middle class people have more affordability in our city.”
Young candidates appeal to voters: outgoing councillor
Sangha will replace Gurpartap Singh Toor, who was formerly Brampton’s youngest councillor when he got the job in 2022. Although Toor was also elected to council at 29, Sangha’s birthday is a few months after Toor’s.
Toor said he believes younger candidates bring a fresh vision that appeals to voters.
“People have a desire for change but they’re not just looking for any change, they’re looking for hope. And when younger candidates that are well-educated and talk about real ideas, I think people really like that,” said Toor, who said he did not seek re-election so he could spend more time with his family.
Gurpartap Singh Toor is the outgoing regional councillor for Brampton Wards 9 and 10. Formerly the youngest councillor in Brampton, he says young candidates bring a fresh vision that voters are looking for. (Isha Bhargava/CBC)
Toor said Sangha has a great deal of work ahead of him for the ward, which has a lot of projected growth for housing and industry jobs over the next decade.
“I think his challenge will be to make sure none of that gets lost when you’re competing for dollars with changes in the regional government or provincial changes that keep happening,” said Toor.
Sangha said he can bridge the gap between the city and its youth by creating more mentorship and training opportunities for young people, which he feels is lacking.
“When I was growing up, if I wanted to be a lawyer or a doctor, there’s not a single person I could call because those mentorship programs didn’t exist,” said Sangha. “There’s so much talent in our city and we just have to make sure kids know who to ask for help.”
Sangha and the rest of council will be sworn into office next month.