Satinder Kaur "Sindi" Hawkins (née Ahluwalia) (September 15, 1958 – September 21, 2010) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who was the

British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia genera ...

MLA for

Okanagan West The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is par ...

from 1996 to 2001 and Kelowna-Mission from 2001 to 2009.

Career

Before being elected to provincial office, Hawkins was a registered nurse in general duty, intensive care, management, education and consulting. She held a post-graduate certificate in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

nursing from the Montreal Neurological Hospital. She was recognized as one of the first nurses in Canada to be certified in neuroscience nursing by the Canadian Nurses Association. Hawkins then earned a law degree from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and set up her own company as a lawyer with an interest in medical-legal issues. Hawkins was first elected in 1996 and was re-elected in 2001 and 2005. She served as Minister of Health Planning and as Minister of State for Intergovernmental Relations. As Minister of Health Planning, she was responsible for a long-term strategy to train more doctors and nurses in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. As a result of this planning, B.C. has added medical school campuses at the

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a small, research-intensive public university in British Columbia, Canada. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Quesnel, and ...

in Prince George, the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

, and at UBC Okanagan in Kelowna. The B.C. Liberal government has also expanded the number of nurses being trained around the province.

Personal life

In 2004, Hawkins was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

and waged a high-profile battle with the illness. She was saved as a result of a

bone marrow transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce ...

from her sister. Hawkins campaigned for cancer research and bone marrow donation awareness. On November 17, 2008, Hawkins announced that she would not run for re-election. She died from leukemia on September 21, 2010, a week after her 52nd birthday. In her honour, the cancer centre in Kelowna, BC was renamed the BC Cancer Agency Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior.

References

External links

Sindi Hawkins political website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Sindi 1958 births 2010 deaths British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Health ministers of British Columbia Women MLAs in British Columbia Canadian Sikhs People from Kelowna People from New Delhi Deaths from cancer in Alberta Deaths from leukemia 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Women government ministers of Canada Canadian politicians of Indian descent