Elected on the Liberal ticket defeating Mr Pervinder Sandhu in a straight contest from the Liberal-dominated Ontario province last year, Mr Bains became a Member of Parliament at the age of 26.

“I am very clear. I am all support for the minorities. Canada is a country of minorities and we have to respect all minorities. The same sex marriage legislation does not violate any religious sanctity, faith or belief. It is for the religions to decide on their stand on the issue.

No one can move the court if a place of worship, say a temple, or a gurdwara or a synagogue, refuses to permit same sex marriage,” adds Mr Bains.

Supporting the stand of Mr Navdeep Singh Bains is the World Sikh Organisation (WSO), which says that “same sex marriage is the right of a minority community which must be conceded. This does not affect any religion,” says Mr Inderjit Singh Bal, a former president of the WSO, who is accompanying Mr Bains on a tour of India.

“The Sikh high priests should not have taken a decision on same sex marriage in a hurry,” feels Mr Bal, maintaining that “human rights and rights of minorities cannot be suppressed.”

Born and brought up in Canada, Mr Bains holds Masters of Business Administration degree. He is also a qualified CMA, which for all practical purposes is equivalent to a chartered accountant degree.

Mr Bains, who accompanied Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Paul Martin, on a visit to India. Though his grandparents had moved from their ancestral Tajewal village in Hoshiarpur district to Rajasthan in the early 30s, he still considers himself a Doabia as his mother comes from a village in Jalandhar.

“I will be visiting my village in Rajasthan tomorrow. Last time I was there was about 10 years back,” says Mr Bains who is accompanied on this tour by his father, Mr Sukhminder Singh Bains, and younger brother, Mr Harjot Singh.

While Mr Sukhminder Singh Bains is into business, Mr Harjot Bains is training to be a physiotherapist.

Prime Minister Paul Martin was pleasantly surprised to know that Mr Navdeep Bains was a teetotaler. “In fact it was while travelling to India that Navdeep explained to Mr Martin all about Sikh religion. He was greatly impressed,” recalls Mr Sukhminder Singh Bains.