Kamal Khera
Kamal Khera | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Seniors | |
| Assumed office October 26, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Deb Schulte |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development | |
| In office August 31, 2018 – January 31, 2021 | |
| Minister | Karina Gould |
| Preceded by | Celina Caesar-Chavannes |
| Succeeded by | Vacant |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue | |
| In office January 30, 2017 – August 31, 2018 | |
| Minister | Diane Lebouthillier |
| Preceded by | Emmanuel Dubourg |
| Succeeded by | Deb Schulte |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health | |
| In office December 2, 2015 – January 27, 2017 | |
| Minister | Jane Philpott |
| Preceded by | Cathy McLeod |
| Succeeded by | Darren Fisher |
| Member of Parliament for Brampton West | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Kyle Seeback |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 4, 1989[1] Delhi, India |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Residence | Brampton, Ontario |
| Alma mater | York University |
| Occupation |
|
Kamalpreet Khera PC MP (born February 4, 1989) is a Canadian politician who has been the minister of seniors since October 26, 2021.[2] A member of the Liberal Party, Khera was elected to represent the riding of Brampton West in the House of Commons following the 2015 federal election.
Career[]
Kamal Khera is a registered nurse. She attended York University where she earned an Honours Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Prior to politics, she worked as a registered nurse in the oncology unit at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Toronto.[3]
Federal politics[]
Khera was nominated as the Liberal Party's candidate in Brampton West in December 2014, and won the seat in the federal election in the following October.[4][5][6] When first elected in 2015, Khera was the youngest Liberal MP in the House, and the second-youngest overall behind the NDP's Pierre-Luc Dusseault.[7] She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election,[8] and in 2021.
Parliamentary Secretary
On December 2, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Khera as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, then as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue (January 2017 – August 2018) and from August 2018 to January 2021, Khera served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.[9]
Khera stepped down from her role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development in January 2021, after having travelled to Seattle in December for a memorial service for her uncle despite the border between the United States and Canada being closed to all nonessential travel at the time due to the coronavirus pandemic.[10]
On September 20, 2021, Khera was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Brampton West.
On October 26, 2021, Khera was promoted to the position of Minister of Seniors in Justin Trudeau's cabinet, succeeding Deb Schulte, the outgoing Minister of Seniors who lost re-election in the riding of King-Vaughan. She is amongst the youngest members of the cabinet and the Privy Council of Canada.[11]
Electoral record[]
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Brampton West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Kamal Khera | 28,743 | 53.5 | -2.39 | $109,585.64 | |||
| Conservative | Murarilal Thapliyal | 12,824 | 23.9 | -6.21 | $110,270.48 | |||
| New Democratic | Navjit Kaur | 9,855 | 18.4 | +5.96 | $74,444.87 | |||
| Green | Jane Davidson | 1,271 | 2.4 | +0.85 | $683.08 | |||
| People's | Roger Sampson | 505 | 0.9 | $3,955.00 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Paul Tannahill | 319 | 0.6 | none listed | ||||
| Communist | Harinderpal Hundal | 97 | 0.2 | $476.56 | ||||
| Canada's Fourth Front | Anjum Malik | 69 | 0.1 | $0.00 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 53,683 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 735 | |||||||
| Turnout | 54,418 | 62.6 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 86,912 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +1.91 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[12][13] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Brampton West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Kamal Khera | 24,256 | 55.89 | +19.81 | $186,667.41 | |||
| Conservative | Ninder Thind | 13,068 | 30.11 | -11.90 | $179,464.92 | |||
| New Democratic | Adaoma Patterson | 5,400 | 12.44 | -7.18 | $29,137.39 | |||
| Green | Karthika Gobinath | 674 | 1.55 | -0.02 | $702.19 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 43,398 | 100.00 | $203,918.62 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 245 | 0.56 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 43,643 | 61.70 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 70,734 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +15.86 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[14][15] | ||||||||