Bramptonians backed PCs in all five of the city’s ridings, though most residents did not vote in the election
, raising questions among some residents about whether the Progressive Conservative sweep of all five of the city’s ridings is partly a product of public apathy.
As of June last year, Brampton had the highest per-capita rate of COVID-19 infections in the province. Wave after wave of the virus stretched the city’s already overwhelmed health care system to its limits. Mr. Gupta said he believes the PCs would have fared worse in Brampton if the election had happened while the virus was particularly rampant. “It was the timing of the election that helped Doug Ford,” he said. “If this election was happening during the Omicron wave, the result could have looked different. But now people want to move on. Everybody is keen to get back to business. Doug Ford’s message about easing restrictions made sense to people.
The lowest turnout in the city was in Brampton West, at 33.53 per cent – a drop from around 48 per cent in 2018. The winner there was Amarjot Sandhu, a PC incumbent.