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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s growing diversity is not yet reflected in its overwhelmingly white slate of elected officials — something Hasan Hai, a Liberal candidate in the upcoming provincial election, hopes will change.

The percentage of racialized Newfoundlanders and Labradorians more than doubled between 2001 and 2016, climbing from 0.8 per cent to 2.3 per cent, and the province is now promoting immigration and diversity as one solution to its economic hardships.

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But while the province has elected some Indigenous representatives to the House of Assembly, its members are still largely white.

The Pakistan-born Hai, who’s running in Mount Pearl-Southlands in the May 16 election, said that after growing up in Ottawa, he realized the othering effect of only seeing white politicians on the news.

He said it was a special moment to see the pride in his own children’s faces when he stood with Liberal party incumbents and candidates as premier Dwight Ball dropped the election writ last month.