Nina Grewal (born 20 October 1958), is a Canadian politician of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. She represented the constituency of
Fleetwood—Port Kells
Fleetwood—Port Kells is a federal electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004.
Geography
It consists of the northeast part of the City of Surrey, ...
, British Columbia from her election in the
2004 federal election to her defeat in the
2015 federal election by
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate
Ken Hardie
Ken Hardie (born 1947) is a Canadian broadcaster and Liberal politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the riding of Fleetwood—Port Kells during the 2015 federal election.
Hardie i ...
.
Biography
Grewal was born in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, Japan in 1958. She and her husband lived in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
before emigrating to Canada, where she raised her young family while working as a sales manager selling
Registered Education Savings Plan A registered education savings plan (RESP) in Canada is an investment vehicle available to caregivers to save for their children's post-secondary education. The principal advantages of RESPs are the access they provide to the Canada Education Savin ...
s. Grewal became an active member of the community and the
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protes ...
(subsequently the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
and
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
), participating in many national and regional conferences and conventions. She is married to former
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Gurmant Grewal
Gurmant Singh Grewal (born December 21, 1957) is an Indo-Canadian politician and former Conservative Member of Parliament. Gurmant and his wife, Nina Grewal, who represented Fleetwood—Port Kells from 2004 to 2015, were the first married co ...
, and the Grewals were the first married couple in Canadian history to concurrently serve as federal MPs.
![Canadian MP Nina Grewal hugs a supporter after her victory in the 2006 Canadian Federal elections](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Canadian_MP_Nina_Grewal_hugs_a_supporter_after_her_victory_in_the_2006_Canadian_Federal_elections.jpg)
Grewal is a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Sub-Committee on International Human Rights, and she has served on the Immigration, Canadian Heritage, and Status of Women committees.
During her first term, she introduced a private members motion seeking to raise the age of consent. While the then-Liberal government defeated the measure, the subsequent Conservative government put it into law. She also proposed measures to tackle identity theft (with Bill C-271) and to amend the State Immunity Act (Bill C-346), both of which were incorporated into government legislation and subsequently passed. In addition, she pursued bills against child pornography (Bill C-347) and regulations for the volume of television commercials (Bill C-621). The
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
later decided to implement her proposals entirely.
From 15–18 May 2005, Grewal's husband surreptitiously taped his discussions with the Liberal Party which, he claimed, showed Liberal government officials enticing him to
crossing the floor
In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...
in exchange for patronage positions. The Liberals were concerned with saving the government during the vote of confidence, and had also contacted MPs
Chuck Cadman
Charles Cadman (February 21, 1948July 9, 2005) was a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2005, representing the riding of Surrey North in Surrey, British Columbia.
Originally a Canadian Alliance MP, Cadman won re-e ...
,
Inky Mark
Inky Mark (; born November 17, 1947) is a Canadian politician and a former member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the Manitoba riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette. Mark was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, ...
, and
Belinda Stronach
Belinda Caroline Stronach (Born May 2, 1966) is a Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist and a former Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2008. Originally elected as a Conservative, she later crossed the fl ...
(the last of whom did cross the floor, and was made a minister). When the audio tapes were released, Nina Grewal publicly refused to comment about these discussions; the Liberals were cleared of any wrongdoing, and the Grewals had to explain in detail to the Parliamentary
Ethics Commissioner
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is an entity of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament, who administers the ''Conflict of Interest Act'' and the ''Conflict of Interest Code ...
about the discussions and secret tapings on 16 May.
The Grewal-Dosanjh Inquiry
Office of the Ethics Commissioner. (January 2006)
On 29 November 2006, it was announced that Nina Grewal would be standing for re-election, even though her husband was not. She successfully defended her seat in the 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, and 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
federal elections, but lost in the 2015 election.
Grewal announced her support for Motion 312, a motion that would have Canada reexamine their definition of when human life begins.
Electoral record
* * Alan Saldanha withdrew after a controversial quote on Facebook.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grewal, Nina
1958 births
Canadian Sikhs
People from Osaka
Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia
Canadian politicians of Indian descent
Canadian politicians of Punjabi descent
People from Surrey, British Columbia
Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
Women in British Columbia politics
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians