Arpan Khanna

Arpan Khanna (born July 9, 1990) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a by-election on June 19, 2023. He represents Oxford as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. Previously, he was a lawyer.

Background

Khanna was born in to immigrants from Punjab, India. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario. Khanna is a practicing lawyer. He and his family lived in Woodstock but now own a home in East Zorra Tavistock.

Career

During the Harper government, Khanna was a ministerial staffer for Jason Kenney.

2019 federal election

Khanna unsuccessfully challenged Liberal incumbent Ruby Sahota in Brampton North. During the campaign, a 2010 tweet resurfaced in which Khanna used a homophobic slur. He apologized unequivocally for his remarks, noting he was a teenager at the time the comments were posted.

2022 leadership race

Khanna served as the Ontario co-chair for Pierre Poilievre's successful leadership bid. Subsequently, he became the national outreach chair for the Conservative Party.

2023 Oxford by-election

In 2023, Khanna decided to run for the Conservative Nomination for the Riding of Oxford to succeed then-Member of Parliament, Dave Mackenize. In February 2023, MacKenzie criticized Khanna for promoting a quote implying that Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre endorsed him for the nomination and the party was supporting Khanna's candidacy. Mackenzie believed it a violation of the party nomination rules based on the Conservative's code of conduct. When another candidate, Gerrit Van Dorland backed by anti-abortion groups, was disqualified by the Conservatives, Khanna, disagreed with the decision on social media and asked the party to reverse the decision. In April 2023, Khanna defeated two other candidates such as Mackenize's daughter, Deb Tait, a Woodstock city-county councillor.

Mackenize, who cited concerns in the leadership race announced his endorsement for local realtor, David Hilderley, who was the Liberal candidate. This led the Conservatives to deploy their entire caucus to campaign for Khanna. On June 19, Khanna was elected to the riding, defeating candidates such as Hilderley. After the race, operatives from the Conservatives, accused the Liberals of racism due to them emphasizing Hilderley local ties to riding while contrasting that Khanna was an outsider; the Liberals argued that the Conservatives were deflecting.

Electoral record

References

1. 2023 Oxford federal by-election
2. By-elections to the 44th Canadian Parliament
3. 45th Canadian federal election
4. Norwich, Ontario
5. 44th Canadian Parliament
6. Woodstock, Ontario
7. Opinion polling for the 45th Canadian federal election
8. List of House members of the 44th Parliament of Canada
9. Reena Roy
10. 2019 Canadian federal election
11. Oxford (federal electoral district)
12. Dave MacKenzie (politician)
13. Ruby Sahota
14. List of federal by-elections in Canada
15. Brampton North (federal electoral district)
16. J. Om Prakash
17. List of visible minority politicians in Canada
18. Chetan Anand (director)
19. List of Indian architects
20. Cody Groat