Brampton West MP to "step aside" from parliamentary role after travel to US

Jan 4 2021, 2:25 pm

A Brampton West MP has stepped aside from her parliamentary role after she travelled to the US for what was deemed an essential family-related trip.

On Sunday, Kamal Khera posted a statement saying she was no longer going to perform her duties as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.

Khera said she decided to go to Seattle, Washington, where she joined her late uncle’s only daughter for a private memorial of less than 10 people, after not being able to attend the funeral of the loved ones lost in 2020. She also lost her father shortly before her uncle’s passing.

With the MP stepping aside, it seems she will refocus her position to address the COVID-19 pandemic in her community.

“Many of you may also know that after battling COVID-19 myself, I was fortunate to lend a hand as a volunteer nurse at a long-term care facility in Brampton hit hard by the outbreak during the nursing shortage experienced in the early days of the pandemic,” the statement said.

“That experience was both invigorating and eye-opening as I saw firsthand the reality many of our seniors faced as the virus continued to spread.”

She noted that her decision to run as a Member of Parliament was to better serve her community. With this resignation she is choosing to focus her efforts on the “most pressing concerns” in Brampton West to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and to vaccinate as many people as possible.

Khera is not the only politician to face consequences for their decision to travel outside of the country.

Last week, Ontario’s Finance Minister Rod Phillips resigned after he took a personal vacation to St. Barts for the winter break.

However, he will still serve as MPP for Ajax.

Clarrie FeinsteinClarrie Feinstein

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