By: Laura Steiner
Parm Gill has won the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party’s nomination for Milton Ontario. Gill faced off against local Councillor Mike Cluett in a Father’s Day nomination meeting that took place June 18, 2017.
“It’s an absolute honour,” Gill said of the victory. He signed up an estimated 1,000 new members, and according to him several hundred of those showed up. “I have a strong team, and I think they deserve most of the credit,” he said.
Parm Gill is a new face to Milton. He moved into the area a year ago, and lives on a 15 acre farm. He understands the work ahead of him in order to raise his profile in the community. “I’m going to continue to knock on doors, and continue to talk to businesses.” He had already been doing so in pursuit of the nomination.
Gill previously represented the federal riding of Brampton-Springdale for the Conservative Party of Canada. Cluett extended his congratulations in a Facebook post. “I’d like to congratulate Parm Gill he will be the candidate for the PC Party in Milton,” he wrote.
The next provincial election is scheduled to be held June 7, 2018.
The Rough Road To The Nomination
This is a second date for the Milton riding. The party had previously scheduled the nomination meeting November 20, 2016, but cancelled for unknown reasons. The Milton riding was created in response to the town’s increasing population. It’s one of four new ridings in Ontario.
Members who purchased memberships by May 12, 2017 were eligible to participate in yesterday’s vote. The possibility of fraudulent memberships arose last week, when Faisal Elahi reported he received a letter indicating he’d purchased a membership. Elahi is a member of the local riding association for the Liberal Party of Canada.
Voting took place between 12pm-3pm. The first 30 minutes were dedicated to speeches and presentations. Polling areas opened at 12:30 p.m. A single incident marked the early part of voting. One of Cluett’s supporters was approached by one of Gill’s supports bearing a sticker, and attempted to place it on the man’s chest. The man responded saying something translated to mean “I’ve been a member of this part for 10 years, I have the right to vote for whomever I choose.”
Polls closed at exactly 3 p.m. Results were announced 30 minutes later. Following the announcement of the results, Cluett made the nomination unanimous.
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