Paramvir "Parm" Bains is a Canadian politician who has represented Richmond East—Steveston (formerly Steveston—Richmond East) in the House of Commons since 2021, as a member of the Liberal Party.
Early life and career Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Bains moved with his family to Richmond at the age of one. He is from a Sikh family and his parents immigrated to Canada from Mahilpur, Punjab, India. He attended the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and later received a master of arts degree in professional communications from Royal Roads University. He worked for the Government of British Columbia as a public and media relations officer, then as a lecturer at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's School of Business.
Bains is married and has two children.
Politics Bains ran for Richmond City Council in the 2018 British Columbia municipal elections as a Richmond Community Coalition candidate, but was not elected.
He ran as a Liberal Party candidate in the 2021 federal election, and defeated Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu in the riding of Steveston—Richmond East. In the 44th Parliament, he served as member in the standing committees on Government Operations and Estimates, and Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Bains endorsed Mark Carney in the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. He was re-elected in the renamed riding of Richmond East—Steveston in that year's federal election, receiving 48.5% of the vote, and became member of the standing committee on Industry and Technology in the 45th Parliament.
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. 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.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) documents flagged the riding as a potential target of interference. Bains denied that foreign interference played a role in his victory and insisted he won "fair and square."
Electoral history Federal elections
Municipal elections Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in bold +2018 British Columbia municipal elections: Richmond City Council 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
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