Former B.C. Liberal deputy premier Christy Clark is not the only Vancouver mayoral candidate with the backing of Indo-Canadian leaders. While the Ross Street Temple's secretary general, Sarwan Singh Randhawa, supports Clark, other executive members want Vision Vancouver candidate Jim Green to be the next mayor of Vancouver.

Gurdip Singh Gill, president of the Ross Street Temple, is a staunch supporter of COPE. Although Gill won't comment on the record, sources close to him have confirmed that he is individually supporting Green, even though the executive as a whole isn't taking a position.

"As a president, I don't want to make any comment about my choice," Gill told the Straight. "But I belong to the working class and [I am] a natural supporter of any left-wing party. The members of the temple management are free to choose any of these candidates. We are not going to give block vote to anyone."

The assistant secretary general, Kashmir Singh Dhaliwal, openly supports Green. "Jim is not only my friend but we share common ideology," Dhaliwal told the Straight.

Sohan Singh Deo, the senior member of temple's advisory committee, is another prominent Sikh leader who told the Straight that he will support Green. Jarnail Singh Bhandal, the former temple president, told the Straight that he also individually supports Green but is maintaining neutrality as a member of the temple executive.

Green is also supported by prominent South Asian progressives not elected to positions with the temple. Indo-Canadian Workers' Association leader Surinder Sangha told the Straight that his members will wholeheartedly support COPE candidates and Jim Green in the November election. Mohinder Soomal, a prominent progressive Punjabi writer, told the Straight that although Green is not running under the COPE banner, his "left leanings" cannot be questioned. Soomal also said that he will work on Green's election campaign.

Meanwhile, Clark is backed by former B.C. Liberal minister of state for multiculturalism Gulzar Cheema and Punjabi Market Association president Daljit Sidhu.