“Our council has to represent out city…we need to bring new look, new image, new ideas to Brampton, and the best way to do it is to get younger generation involved,” says 25-year-old Harveen Sidhu. Harveen is running from Ward 9 and 10 of Brampton against Councillor Vicky Dhillon who has served one term at the City Council.

She has an undergraduate degree from University of Toronto in Political Science, she has a graduate degree in public administration and “my heart has always been set out to be involved in politics,” she says excitedly. She has lived in Brampton throughout her life except for when she was studying and interning in New York City with Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg and Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer.

She counters her lack of experience as “I’ve my grassroots here in Brampton. I know how the system works, I know what people want. I have seen the development in the ward.”

Sitting in a coffee shop, her voice rang with compassion and a strong urge to motivate youth to come out and be part of the electoral process by voting. Her candidacy in many ways represents the new look of Brampton. Ward 9 & 10 has about 60,000 population, out of which more than 50 % are South Asians.

Harveen Sidhu, candidate for Ward 9 & 10 for Brampton City Council, with a group of volunteers.

A great number of these South Asians are interested in investing in India. But “we need a strong enough council to want to do it,” she tells us. The idea is that it‘s okay if the community wants to help people in India, but “you can help us here to help them [Indians] there [in India].”

She strongly feels that the people in the Ward are paying the highest tax dollars to the City. Though she doesn’t make any promises to cut taxes as a city councillor, she wants these dollars to be spent wisely.

“We need more community centers in the ward. The population has more than doubled in last few years and infrastructure isn’t meeting the community needs. We need to improve it.” While federal stimulus is trickling down to the city, what’s important to Harveen is “how do we spend that money.”

Lack of transparency in the city bothers her too. “Our transparency commission in Brampton has been cancelled…because we don’t need it. It [transparency commission] shows people that we are accountable to them [people].” To her being a city counicllor means, “your [city councillors’] boss are people.”

As a city councillor, her first order of business would be “to set youth advisory committees” that can help and guide youth. Her belief is that at a younger age you can teach kids that drugs, violence and guns are bad. Her desire is to help kids who drop out of elementary or high schools. One way to do it, she says, is to explain to them that if you [youth] don’t go to colleges or universities, there would be less opportunities for youth to buy that nice car they want to drive.

To have appropriate jobs for this generation, as a councillor she would work hard to bring big corporations in Brampton, so that people can “work as well as live as well as enjoy themselves in Brampton,” she says.

Harveen wants to bring awareness about what the city council does by having small groups of people meet with her as well as other councillors. “At the end of the day you’re there for people…you can’t help everyone, but you can help most people.,” she says.

There is a large population of new immigrants in Brampton, however these new immigrants do not have the right to vote at municipal level. Harveen believes that these new immigrants shouldn’t have the right to vote as soon as they come to Canada. They should “understand the system, the way process works.. and get involved to improve where they live and know the electoral process,” before they are ready to vote.

Nonetheless, as a voice of youth she cherishes seniors and is grateful to them for the foundation they have established for younger generation.

“At the end of the day, if it wasn’t for seniors, we won’t have those strong foundations,” she says.

But the future rests with youth, and Harveen is out there to mobilize the youth.