Malhi was first elected to the House of Commons in the
federal election of 1993, defeating
Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbent
Harry Chadwick and in the
Peel Region riding of
Bramalea—Gore—Malton. Prior to 1993, Canadian law prohibited members of Parliament from wearing headgear of any sort in the House of Commons. Malhi's insistence on wearing a turban caused the law to be changed shortly after the election. Malhi was re-elected in the
1997 election over Reform candidate Darlene Florence and PC candidate Beryl Ford. He was re-elected with the greatest majority of his career in the
2000 federal election over
Canadian Alliance candidate Gurdish Mangat and PC candidate Danny Varaich. He was re-elected again with a significant plurality over
Conservative Raminder Singh Gill in the
2004 election, despite the fact that his riding was a key Conservative target. In the 2006 federal election, Malhi was elected over Conservative candidate John Sprovieri and
NDP candidate Cesar Martello. Malhi was elected for the sixth time in the 2008 election over Conservative candidate
Stella Ambler and NDP candidate Jash Puniya. In 2002, he became the recipient of the
Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for his commitment and contributions to Canadian society. In 2003, he was appointed for life to the
Queen's Privy Council for Canada by Prime Minister
Paul Martin. Gurbax Singh Malhi served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2004, Malhi served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry with special emphasis on Entrepreneurs and New Canadians. In 2004 he was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and he served in this capacity until 2005. In 2005, Gurbax Singh Malhi also acted as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal. From 2005 to 2006, he also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. In 2005, Malhi was among 32 Liberal Party backbenchers who voted against the
Civil Marriage Act, despite the Liberal government being officially in favour of its adoption. In a House of Commons debate, he encouraged MPs to vote to maintain the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman "in keeping with the natural law and in conformity with God's design for the world" and downplayed discrimination against same-sex couples, stating that "just because differences exist in society, it does not mean that inequality and discrimination exist.” In the
2011 federal election, the Liberal Party won the fewest seats in its history. Falling to third place, Malhi was defeated by Conservative
Bal Gosal.
Jagmeet Singh, the future leader of the NDP, finished in second. Like Malhi, Singh would be a trend-setter for Canadian Sikhs when he became the first turban-wearing, visible minority party leader in
2017. During the
2014 Ontario general election, he campaigned for his daughter
Harinder Malhi, who contested and won the seat for
Brampton—Springdale for the
Ontario Liberal Party, becoming a
Member of Provincial Parliament in the
41st Legislative Assembly of Ontario. == Electoral record ==