Kamalpreet Khera PC MP (born February 4, 1989) is an Indian born Canadian politician who has been minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities since July 26, 2023.[2] A member of the Liberal Party, Khera has represented the riding of Brampton West in the House of Commons since the 2015 federal election. She also served as the minister of seniors from October 26, 2021 to July 2023.
Kamal Khera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities | |
| Assumed office July 26, 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Ahmed Hussen (Diversity and Inclusion) Carla Qualtrough (Persons with Disabilities) |
| Minister of Seniors | |
| In office October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Deb Schulte |
| Succeeded by | Seamus O'Regan |
| 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 | Maninder Sidhu |
| 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 |
| Spouse | Jaspreet Dhillon |
| Residence(s) | Brampton, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | York University (BSN) |
| Occupation |
|
Education and Early Career
editPrior to entering politics, Khera attended York University where she earned an Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She went on to work as a registered nurse in the palliative and oncology units at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto.[2]
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, she volunteered at a long-term care facility in her hometown of Brampton and administered vaccines in her community.[2][3]
Federal Politics
editKhera was nominated as the Liberal 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 Pierre-Luc Dusseault of the New Democratic Party (NDP) .[7] She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election,[8] and in 2021.[9] Khera is one of the youngest women ever to be elected to Parliament.
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 on January 18, 2017. Beginning August 31, 2018, Khera served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development.[10]
Khera stepped down from her role as parliamentary secretary on January 3, 2021, after having travelled to the United States in December to attend a memorial service for her uncle, while the federal government was discouraging international travel.[3]
On September 20, 2021, Khera was re-elected as the member of Parliament for Brampton West.[11]
Minister of Seniors
On October 26, 2021, Khera was joined cabinet as the minister of seniors.[10] She is amongst the youngest members of the cabinet and the Privy Council of Canada.[12]
Her mandate was marked by the government’s restoration of the age of eligibility for retirement back to 65, an increase of the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which has helped over 900,000 seniors, and has lifted 45,000 of them out of poverty, the enhancement of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and a 10 per cent increase of Old Age Security (OAS) pensions for seniors over 75.[13]
Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities
On July 26, 2023, Khera was appointed to the position of minister of diversity, inclusion, and persons with disabilities following a cabinet shuffle in the summer of 2023.[10] She succeeds Ahmed Hussen, who was minister of housing and diversity and inclusion, and Carla Qualthrough, who was minister of persons with disabilities.[14]
On June 8, 2024, Khera announced the launch of the federal government's new Anti-Racism Strategy, a $110.4 million investment aimed at driving action in employment, justice and law enforcement, housing, healthcare and immigration systems.[15]
Khera has also rolled out the Canadian Disability Benefit in the 2024 Canadian federal budget, providing an investment of $6.1 billion to help uplift thousands of working-age persons with disabilities and their families. As proposed, the benefit is estimated to increase the financial well-being of over 600,000 low-income persons with disabilities.[16]
Electoral record
edit| 2021 Canadian federal election: Brampton West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Kamal Khera | 25,780 | 55.3 | +1.8 | $107,717.96 | |||
| Conservative | Jermaine Chambers | 13,186 | 28.3 | +4.4 | $33,421.74 | |||
| New Democratic | Gurprit Gill | 6,097 | 13.1 | -5.3 | $0.00 | |||
| People's | Rahul Samuel Zia | 1,218 | 2.6 | +1.7 | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Sivakumar Ramasamy | 328 | 0.7 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 46,609 | 99.2 | – | $115,623.57 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 390 | 0.8 | ||||||
| Turnout | 46,999 | 54.3 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 86,557 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -1.3 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[17] | ||||||||
| 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[18][19] | ||||||||
| 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[20][21] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "David Akin 🇨🇦 on Twitter: "Happy 30th birthday to Brampton West MP @KamalKheraLib 1"". twitter.com. Twitter. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ a b c "The Honourable Kamal Khera". Prime Minister of Canada. 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ a b DeClerq, Katherine (3 January 2021). "Brampton West MP to step aside from parliamentary role after travelling to U.S. for memorial". CTV News. Toronto ON. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Liberals find candidate in Brampton West for next federal election". Brampton Guardian. 2014-12-10. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ Guardian, Peter Criscione Brampton (2015-10-20). "BRAMPTON WEST: Liberal Kamal Khera wins Brampton West". Brampton Guardian. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ "19 Indian-Canadians elected to Canadian parliament". The Economic Times. 20 October 2015. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ John Paul Tasker, Meet the Class of 2015: Notable Rookies headed to Parliament Hill, CBC.ca, October 22, 2015.
- ^ Gamrot, Sabrina (21 October 2019). "Brampton West re-elects Liberal Kamal Khera". The Brampton Guardian. Brampton ON: Metroland Media Group. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ "Canada election results: Brampton West | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ a b c https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/kamal-khera(88705)/roles [bare URL]
- ^ "Canada election results: Brampton West | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
- ^ Maloney, Ryan (November 13, 2021). "Kamal Khera, Trudeau's youngest minister, says she'll draw on her pandemic experiences in cabinet". CBC News.
- ^ "Backgrounder: Government of Canada financial supports for seniors". www.canada.ca. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ "The Honourable Kamal Khera". Prime Minister of Canada. 2021-10-23. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ Heritage, Canadian (2024-06-08). "The Government of Canada launches Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy 2024–2028". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
- ^ Canada, Employment and Social Development (2023-10-17). "Overview of the Canada Disability Benefit". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Brampton West, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine