At the beginning of November, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism Graham McGregor posted a message on social media, celebrating the birth of the founder of Sikhism.
He stood between two Ontario flags in a video, wearing a red poppy on his lapel and switched back and forth between English and Punjabi.
“Today we celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, whose message of equality, compassion and service continues to inspire millions around the world,” he said.
For some, his ability to mix the two languages was a surprise. McGregor is a white MPP representing a riding where 75 per cent of residents are visible minorities and 25 per cent of residents are Sikh.
“Being a Brampton MPP, I’ve spoken in Punjabi many times,” he told Global News. “I can speak kind of conversational Punjabi and definitely interact with the community that way.”
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The video spread like wildfire across social media, reaching beyond his riding, beyond the province and across the world. It drew 441,000 views on Instagram and 1.1 million on X, substantially more than the 125,000 people in his riding of Brampton North.
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In the comments under the Instagram video, heart emojis and praying hands abounded, praising McGregor for his message. On X, a slew of accounts spat back.
“I don’t even know which minority group you’re pandering to but it’s pathetic,” one wrote.
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McGregor said he was “surprised in good and bad ways” by the response to his video. He said he’d heard from many who appreciated the message and “felt seen” by it. On the other hand, he said he was “taken aback” by a wave of negativity.
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“I’ve never met anybody here in Canada that’s engaged in some of that rhetoric that you’re seeing. I think it was a lot of the hard right in America for sure,” he said.
“The important thing, we can’t let the negative get in the way of meaningful progress. We are a diverse province; the diversity makes us beautiful, we’ve got to celebrate that and commemorate that.”
While McGregor has posted videos since, he did not respond to the comments under the original post.
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“I think you’ve got to move on,” he said.
“Look, I’m a Brampton boy, I’ve got some chippiness in me and certainly lots of different ideas of what you could tweet back or get back at people. But rule number one is make sure that we’re putting out a positive message, that’s what the people that elected me expect me to do.”
McGregor said he has no plans to stop posting his messages, in both English and Punjabi, across his social media channels.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
