Darshan Kang

Darshan Kang MP
Darshan Kang at a Liberal Party of Canada rally for the 2008 federal election.
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Calgary Skyview
Incumbent
Assumed office October 19, 2015
Preceded by	new district
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-McCall
In office March 3, 2008 – May 5, 2015
Preceded by	Shiraz Shariff
Succeeded by	Irfan Sabir
Personal details
Born	1951 (age 64–65) India
Political party	Liberal (also formerly provincial)
Spouse(s)	Sharanjit
Residence	Chestermere, Alberta
Alma mater	University of Indore
Occupation	Real estate agent

Darshan Singh Kang (born 1951) is a Canadian politician, currently serving in the Canadian House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Skyview as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He previously served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-McCall from 2008 to 2015, representing the Alberta Liberal Party. Prior to his political career, he was a welder and a real estate agent.^[1]

Political career

Provincial politics

Kang ran for office for the first time in Calgary-McCall in the 2004 Alberta general election. He was defeated in a closely contested race by incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Shiraz Shariff.

Darshan Kang (third from right) attends a news conference with Kevin Taft (third from left) in Calgary, as part of the 2008 provincial election campaign.

Kang won his second bid for office in the 2008 Alberta general election. The election was a virtual rematch of 2004, with all of the same candidates running. Kang defeated Shariff by 98 votes, after returns in the advanced polls showed he had won overwhelming victories. Kang's numbers increased upon the official recount to 118 votes.^[2] Shiraz Shariff challenged the vote in court, claiming that the results of the advanced polling and special ballots was tainted, but the challenge was unsuccessful.^[3]

In the 2012 provincial election, Kang was initially declared to have been defeated by Wildrose candidate Grant Galpin, but was later declared re-elected after all polling stations, special ballots and advance polls were counted.^[4] He remained a provincial MLA until the 2015 provincial election in May 2015, at which point he did not seek reelection and retired.

Federal politics

In June 2014, Kang was acclaimed as the Liberal Party's candidate for the new Calgary Skyview federal riding in the 2015 federal election.^[5] He was subsequently elected, defeating serving MP Devinder Shory. He and Kent Hehr are the first federal Liberals elected from Calgary since Pat Mahoney in 1968.^[6]

Electoral record

2015 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2015: Calgary Skyview
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Darshan Singh Kang	20,664	–	–	–
	Conservative	Devinder Shory	17,885	–	–	–
	New Democratic	Sahajvir Singh	3,605	–	–	–
	Progressive Canadian	Najeeb Butt	957	–	–	–
	Green	Ed Reddy	851	–	–	–
	Democratic Advancement	Stephen Garvey	786	–	–	–
	Independent	Joseph Young	182	–	–	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Daniel Blanchard	88	–	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			–	100.0		$204,745.54
Total rejected ballots			–	–	–
Turnout			–	–	–
Eligible voters			71,741
Source: Elections Canada[7][8]

2012 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 2012: Calgary-McCall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Darshan Kang	3,865	36.69
	Wildrose	Grant Galpin	3,185	30.24
	Progressive Conservative	Muhammad Rasheed	3,085	29.29
	New Democratic	Collette Singh	227	2.15
	Evergreen	Heather Brocklesby	137	1.30
	Independent	Tanveer Taj	35	0.33
Total			10,534
	Liberal hold		Swing		-7.59%
http://www.elections.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012PGErpt.pdf

2008 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 2008: Calgary-McCall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Darshan Kang	4,279	44.38%	4.93%
	Progressive Conservative	Shiraz Shariff	4,161	43.16%	-0.44%
	Wildrose Alliance	Ina Given	542	5.62%	-2.24%
	Green	Heather Brocklesby	385	3.99%	-0.62%
	New Democratic	Preet Sihota	275	2.85%	-1.63%
9,642
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined			68
Eligible electors / turnout			32,531	31.69%
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		2.69%
The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. July 28, 2008. pp. 230–233.

2004 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 2004: Calgary-McCall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Progressive Conservative	Shiraz Shariff	3,195	43.60%	-26.55%
	Liberal	Darshan Kang	2,891	39.45%	17.18%
	Alberta Alliance	Ina Given	576	7.86%
	Green	Sean Brocklesby	338	4.61%
	New Democratic	Preet Sihota	328	4.48%	-0.32%
Total			7,328
Rejected, spoiled and declined			86
Eligible electors / Turnout			21,831	33.96%
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		-21.87%
"Calgary-McCall Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved March 3, 2012.

References

1. http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/provincial-election-map/index.html
2. Renata D'Aliesio (March 8, 2008). "It's official: Liberal wins cliffhanger in McCall". Calgary Herald.
3. "Defeated Calgary-McCall candidate claims election tainted". CBC News. March 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
4. "Liberal incumbent wins tight race in Calgary-McCall". Calgary Herald, April 24, 2012. Archived April 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
5. Wood, James (June 4, 2014). "MLA Darshan Kang to Run Federally as Liberal Candidate in Calgary Skyview". Calgary Herald. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
6. "After 47 years, Liberals finally win seat in Calgary", [Calgary Herald], October 20, 2015.
7. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Calgary Skyview, 30 September 2015
8. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates