Mayor Patric Brown                                                                    Mayor Brown with PM Modi

With its population of cricket-loving immigrants increasing rapidly, the Indian-dominated city of Brampton on the outskirts of Toronto will soon build the first world-class cricket stadium in Canada. Announcing this while addressing members of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce in December, Brampton’s newly elected Mayor Patrick Brown said cricket is a passion in India as he has witnessed during his visits.

“That’s why we will build a world-class cricket stadium in Brampton during my term,” so that anyone coming from India to do business or live in his city doesn’t miss what they love, the Mayor told the Indo-Canadian gathering. Known as a friend of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Indo-Canadian community here, Brown, a former MP, has been to India 18 times during the past 11 years. In fact, he started this year in India by doing a puja in Varanasi and offering prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Indo-Canadian community accounts for a huge portion of the city’s population of over 600,000, with Punjabis alone making up over 20 per cent of its population. To make the huge Indian community feel at home in his city, the Mayor said: “We will also have the first outdoor ‘garba’ this year out on the streets.” He also mentioned that Brampton already allows the Indo-Canadian community to celebrate Diwali with fireworks.

The Mayor said that since creating jobs tops his agenda, he would take every step to make Brampton attractive for businesses and investors from anywhere, including India, by keeping the cost of doing business in his city low. “There won’t be any tax increase during my term,” he said.

Describing Indian and other diaspora communities of his city as its biggest assets, the Mayor said he would use the huge Indian community to pitch his city to businesses in India. “The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce can open doors for Brampton in India. I have been India 18 times in 11 years and I will do now as Mayor to pitch Brampton to businesses in India,” he said.

Assuring the Indian-friendly Mayor of all support, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce President Pramod Goyal said the chamber has been building business bridges between the two countries for over 40 years and creating jobs.