Nina Grewal

Nina Grewal
Member of Parliament
for Fleetwood—Port Kells
In office
28 June 2004 – 4 August 2015
Preceded byNew Riding
Succeeded byKen Hardie
Personal details
Born (1958-10-20) 20 October 1958 (age 66)
Osaka, Japan
Political partyConservative
SpouseGurmant Grewal
ResidenceSurrey, British Columbia
ProfessionBusinesswoman, sales manager

Nina Grewal (born 20 October 1958), is a Canadian politician of the Conservative Party. She represented the constituency of Fleetwood—Port Kells, British Columbia from her election in the 2004 federal election to her defeat in the 2015 federal election by Liberal candidate Ken Hardie.

Biography

Grewal was born in Osaka, Japan in 1958. She and her husband lived in Liberia before emigrating to Canada, where she raised her young family while working as a sales manager selling Registered Education Savings Plans. Grewal became an active member of the community and the Reform Party of Canada (subsequently the Canadian Alliance and Conservative Party of Canada), participating in many national and regional conferences and conventions. She is married to former Member of Parliament Gurmant Grewal, and the Grewals were the first married couple in Canadian history to concurrently serve as federal MPs.[1]

Canadian MP Nina Grewal hugs a supporter after her victory in the 2006 Canadian federal elections

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.[citation needed]

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 later decided to implement her proposals entirely.[citation needed]

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 exchange for patronage positions. The Liberals were concerned with saving the government during the vote of confidence, and had also contacted MPs Chuck Cadman, Inky Mark, and Belinda Stronach (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 about the discussions and secret tapings on 16 May.[2]

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, 2008, and 2011 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.[3]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Fleetwood—Port Kells
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Ken Hardie 22,871 46.90 +31.24 $50,601.97
Conservative Nina Grewal 14,275 29.27 -18.56 $77,785.90
New Democratic Garry Begg 10,463 21.46 -11.60 $100,039.24
Green Richard Hosein 1,154 2.37 -0.20 $3,625.85
Total valid votes/expense limit 48,763 100.00   $206,797.64
Total rejected ballots 269 0.55
Turnout 49,032 65.25
Eligible voters 75,150
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +24.90
Source: Elections Canada[4][5][6]
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Nina Grewal 23,950 47.5 +2.8
New Democratic Nao Fernando 16,533 32.8 +10.0
Liberal Pam Dhanoa 8,041 16.0 −10.1
Green Alan Saldanha* 1,476 2.9 −3.5
Libertarian Alex Joehl 370 0.7
Total valid votes/Expense limit 50,370 100.0
Total rejected ballots 266 0.5 0.0
Turnout 50,636 53.7 −2
Eligible voters 94,302
  • * Alan Saldanha withdrew after a controversial quote on Facebook.
2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Nina Grewal 21,389 44.7 +11.2 $79,909
Liberal Brenda Locke 12,502 26.1 −5.5 $75,331
New Democratic Nao Fernando 10,916 22.8 −2.4 $65,022
Green Brian Newbold 3,045 6.4 +4.0 --
Total valid votes/Expense limit 47,852 100.0 $88,579
Total rejected ballots 219 0.5 +0.2
Turnout 48,071 56 +3
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Nina Grewal 14,577 33.5 -2.3 $72,464
Liberal Brenda Locke 13,749 31.6 +2.1 $54,768
New Democratic Barry Bell 10,961 25.2 -2.8 $18,907
Independent Jack Cook 3,202 7.4 +7.4 $75,818
Green Duncan McDonald 1,059 2.4 -3.9 --
Total valid votes 43,548 100.0
Total rejected ballots 127 0.3 -0.3
Turnout 43,675 59 0
Conservative hold Swing -2.2
2004 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Nina Grewal 14,052 35.8 $67,710
Liberal Gulzar Cheema 11,568 29.5 $69,483
New Democratic Barry Bell 10,976 28.0 $7,669
Green David Walters 2,484 6.3
Marxist–Leninist Joseph Theriault 167 0.4
Total valid votes 39,247 100.0
Total rejected ballots 218 0.6
Turnout 39,465 59

References

  1. ^ Winters, Nellie (14 June 2022). "Parliamentary Relatives: Spouses". Canadian Parliamentary Review. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ The Grewal-Dosanjh Inquiry Office of the Ethics Commissioner. (January 2006)
  3. ^ Wherry, Aaron. "Macleans.ca – Motion 312 comes to a vote". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  4. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Fleetwood—Port Kells, 30 September 2015
  5. ^ Official Voting Results - Fleetwood—Port Kells
  6. ^ "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.