Parm Bains
Paramvir "Parm" Bains is a Canadian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he has represented Richmond East—Steveston in the House of Commons since the 2021 federal election. He was re-elected in the 2025 federal election.
Early life and career prior to politics
Bains was born in Victoria, British Columbia.[4] His parents immigrated to Canada from Punjab, India.[citation needed] Bains is married and has two children.[5]
Prior to his election, Bains was an instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. He has also worked as a media and public relations officer with the provincial government.
Political career
Bains ran for Richmond City Council in the 2018 British Columbia municipal elections, but was not elected. In the 2021 federal election, he defeated incumbent Kenny Chiu.[6][7] He was re-elected in the 2025 federal election, receiving 48.5% of the vote.
In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, Bains endorsed Mark Carney.[8]
Chinese interference allegations
In 2023, allegations surfaced that the Chinese government may have attempted to influence Parm Bains' 2021 election victory in Steveston—Richmond East.[9][10] Reports indicated disinformation campaigns on Chinese-language platforms, such as WeChat and WhatsApp, targeted his opponent Kenny Chiu, a critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and sponsor of a foreign influence registry bill.[11]
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) documents flagged the riding as a potential target of interference.[12][13] Bains denied that foreign interference played a role in his victory and insisted he won "fair and square."[14]
Electoral history
Federal elections
| 2025 Canadian federal election: Richmond East—Steveston | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Parm Bains | 25,705 | 48.45 | +6.54 | ||||
| Conservative | Zach Segal | 24,605 | 46.38 | +12.39 | ||||
| New Democratic | Keefer Pelech | 2,251 | 4.24 | –15.14 | ||||
| Green | Steven Ji | 494 | 0.93 | –1.41 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 53,055 | 100.0 | – | $129,548.56 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 361 | 0.68 | –0.24 | |||||
| Turnout | 53,416 | 63.98 | +11.21 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 83,489 | |||||||
| Liberal notional hold | Swing | –2.93 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[15] | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election: Steveston—Richmond East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Parm Bains | 16,543 | 42.47 | +7.36 | $107,393.91 | |||
| Conservative | Kenny Chiu | 13,066 | 33.55 | –8.11 | $88,909.23 | |||
| New Democratic | Jack Trovato | 7,525 | 19.32 | +4.25 | $9,430.58 | |||
| People's | Jennifer Singh | 955 | 2.45 | – | $2,482.99 | |||
| Green | Françoise Raunet | 860 | 2.21 | –4.87 | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limits | 38,949 | 100.00 | – | $108,448.59 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 363 | 0.92 | –0.10 | |||||
| Turnout | 39,312 | 52.77 | –4.17 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 74,503 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +7.74 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[16][17][18] | ||||||||
Municipal elections
Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in bold
| Party | Council candidate | Vote | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RITE Richmond | Carol Day (X) | 20,871 | 7.01 | |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Harold Steves (X) | 19,136 | 6.43 | |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Chak Au (X) | 18,026 | 6.05 | |
| Richmond First | Bill McNulty (X) | 17,242 | 5.79 | |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Kelly Greene | 16,464 | 5.53 | |
| Richmond First | Linda McPhail (X) | 15,521 | 5.21 | |
| RITE Richmond | Michael Wolfe | 13,627 | 4.58 | |
| Independent | Alexa Loo (X) | 13,212 | 4.44 | |
| Richmond First | Derek Dang (X) | 13,115 | 4.40 | |
| Richmond First | Andy Hobbs | 12,336 | 4.14 | |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Judie Schneider | 11,672 | 3.92 | |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Ken Johnston (X) | 11,161 | 3.75 | |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Jonathan Ho | 11,140 | 3.74 | |
| Richmond Citizens' Association | Jack Trovato | 10,915 | 3.67 | |
| Richmond First | Sunny Ho | 8,933 | 3.00 | |
| RITE Richmond | Niti Sharma | 8,917 | 2.99 | |
| RITE Richmond | Henry Yao | 8,467 | 2.84 | |
| Richmond First | Peter Liu | 8,357 | 2.81 | |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Parm Bains | 7,973 | 2.68 | |
| Independent | John Roston | 7,961 | 2.67 | |
| Richmond Community Coalition | Melissa Zhang | 7,708 | 2.38 | |
| Independent | Kerry Starchuk | 6,959 | 2.34 | |
| Independent | Jason Tarnow | 5,720 | 1.92 | |
| Independent | Adil Awan | 4,278 | 1.44 | |
| Independent | Manjit Singh | 4,134 | 1.39 | |
| Independent | Dennis Page | 3,478 | 1.17 | |
| Independent | Andy Chiang | 3,337 | 1.12 | |
| Independent | Theresa Head | 3,251 | 1.09 | |
| Independent | Patrick J. Saunders | 2,241 | 0.75 | |
| Independent | Zhe Zhang | 2,241 | 0.75 | |
References
- ^ "Election 2021 results: Liberals heading toward sweep in Richmond and Delta". vancouversun.
- ^ https://www.linkedin.com/in/parm-bains-95b61019a/?originalSubdomain=ca [self-published source]
- ^ "Parm Bains | Team Trudeau". parmbains.liberal.ca.
- ^ "About – Parm Bains". Retrieved 2025-05-12.
- ^ "Liberals choose candidate for Steveston-Richmond East".
- ^ "Steveston-Richmond East riding: Voters send 'extremely clear' message, says Liberal MP-elect Parm Bains". Richmond News.
- ^ "Paramvir Bains". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ Lévesque, Catherine (January 15, 2025). "MPs are rallying to Carney and Freeland as they prepare leadership bids". National Post.
- ^ Osman, Laura (3 May 2024). "Foreign interference may have 'impacted' 2021 result in Richmond riding, inquiry finds". Vancouver Sun.
- ^ "Appearance of the Chief Electoral Officer on Foreign Interference in Canadian Elections" (PDF). Elections Canada: 87. 1 November 2022.
- ^ Lee, Sze-Fung; Fung, Benjamin (4 January 2022). "Misinformation and Chinese interference in Canada's affairs". Policy Options. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
- ^ Canada, Communications Security Establishment (2024-01-24). "House Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) Appearance, Chief, CSE - March 2, 2023". Communications Security Establishment Canada. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
- ^ Hogue, Marie-Josée (3 May 2024). "Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions" (PDF). Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions: 25 – via foreigninterferencecommission.ca.
- ^ Burke, Ashley (31 March 2023). "Liberal MP says he won his riding 'fair and square' after rival tells committee he was undermined by Beijing". CBC.
- ^ "Richmond East—Steveston Validated Results". Election Night Results. Elections Canada. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
- ^ "Election Night Results — Elections Canada". Elections Canada. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Canada, Elections. "Final Election Expenses Limits for Candidates — 44th Canadian Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "Candidate Campaign Returns". Elections Canada. Retrieved 19 July 2022.