‘Will deport illegal immigrants’: Ruby Dhalla, Indian-origin leader, who is eyeing Canadian PM post

Ruby Dhalla, a candidate for Liberal Party leadership who is eyeing to replace Justin Trudeau as Canadian Prime Minister, said on Tuesday she would deport illegal immigrants if elected.

Taking to social media platform X, Ruby Dhalla, an Indian-origin former MP, wrote, "As Prime Minister, I will deport illegal immigrants and clamp down on human traffickers. That's my promise to you."

In another post, Ruby Dhalla shared a video message on X and said, “Thank you so much, thank you to God, I am so grateful to all of you. We are on the verge of creating history by electing the first woman of color as the leader of the Liberal Party and the next prime minister of Canada.”

Dhalla added, "Phase 1 is over, we go on to phase 2 and engage with liberals all across the country, who have signed up as members of our party. I'm incredibly excited to be officially accepted as a candidate by the Liberal Party. My candidacy will engage an entirely new demographic of people into our party and into the Canadian political system."

“Dhalla made history as the first woman of Indian-origin elected as an MP for three terms and is now aiming to be the first Canadian prime minister of colour,” read a release from her campaign team.

Who is Ruby Dhalla?

• Ruby Dhalla entered the race on the eve of the deadline for candidates to declare themselves, January 23.
• Dhalla was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004 from the erstwhile riding of Brampton-Springdale.
• She was re-elected in 2006 and 2008, but lost in 2011 and opted not to contest in 2015 when the Liberals came into power with a majority.
• Dhalla's victory in the 2004 Federal election made her, along with Conservative Nina Grewal, the first women of Indian origin to be elected to the House.
• Other than her stint in politics, Dhalla has also been a model, and is currently a hotelier.
• She touted that latter experience, and said it was important to “have someone who has actually run a business but has started from the grassroots and from the ground up”.
• She also said it was important to “bring Canada’s stature back on the world stage”.
• Dhalla pointed out that she travelled to Washington for the inaugural events on January 20, as President Donald Trump was sworn in. She said she met secretary of state Marco Rubio at one of them and underscored the necessity of the two countries working collaboratively.