Arpan Khanna
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|---|---|
Khanna in 2019
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| Member of Parliament for Oxford | |
| Assumed office June 19, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Dave MacKenzie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1990-07-09) July 9, 1990 (age 34) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Woodstock, Ontario |
| Alma mater | University of Western Ontario |
| Profession | Lawyer |
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Arpan Khanna MP (born July 9, 1990)[1][2] 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.[3] Previously, he was a lawyer.[4]
Khanna was born in to immigrants from Punjab, India.[5] He graduated from the University of Western Ontario.[6] Khanna is a practicing lawyer.[4] He and his family lived in Woodstock but now own a home in East Zorra Tavistock.[7]
During the Harper government, Khanna was a ministerial staffer for Jason Kenney.[4]
Khanna unsuccessfully challenged Liberal incumbent Ruby SahotainBrampton North.[8] 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.[9]
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.[4]
In 2023, Khanna decided to run for the Conservative Nomination for the Riding of Oxford to succeed then-Member of Parliament, Dave Mackenize.[4] 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.[10][11] 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.[12] In April 2023, Khanna defeated two other candidates such as Mackenize's daughter, Deb Tait, a Woodstock city-county councillor.[13]
Mackenize, who cited concerns in the leadership race announced his endorsement for local realtor, David Hilderley, who was the Liberal candidate.[14] This led the Conservatives to deploy their entire caucus to campaign for Khanna.[15] On June 19, Khanna was elected to the riding, defeating candidates such as Hilderley.[8] 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.[6]
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Resignation of Dave MacKenzie | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Arpan Khanna | 16,688 | 42.92 | -4.13 | ||||
| Liberal | David Hilderley | 14,164 | 36.43 | +15.90 | ||||
| New Democratic | Cody Groat | 4,053 | 10.42 | -7.86 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | John Markus | 1,672 | 4.30 | +3.53 | ||||
| People's | Wendy Martin | 1,278 | 3.29 | -7.36 | ||||
| Green | Cheryle Baker | 854 | 2.20 | -0.52 | ||||
| Independent | John The Engineer Turmel | 171 | 0.44 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 38,880 | 99.38 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 243 | 0.62 | +0.01 | |||||
| Turnout | 39,123 | 39.81 | -25.08 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 98,270 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -10.01 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[16] | ||||||||
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| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ruby Sahota | 25,970 | 51.42 | +3.05 | $76,162.12 | |||
| Conservative | Arpan Khanna | 13,973 | 27.67 | -5.32 | $100,060.30 | |||
| New Democratic | Melissa Edwards | 8,382 | 16.90 | +0.40 | $17,829.85 | |||
| Green | Norbert D'Costa | 1,516 | 3.00 | +1.10 | $0.00 | |||
| People's | Keith Frazer | 510 | 1.01 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,502 | 99.03 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 496 | 0.97 | ||||||
| Turnout | 50,998 | 65.19 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 78,229 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +4.11 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[17][18] | ||||||||
