Brampton-West MP Kamal Khera announced that she will be stepping aside from her position as parliamentary secretary after travelling to the United States during the holidays to attend a memorial for deceased family members.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday, Khera said she travelled to Seattle, Washington for the private event which was attended by fewer than 10 people.
“As many of you know, like the challenges many Canadians faced in 2020, my family and I endured the sudden loss of my father in September followed by the tragic loss of my uncle a few short weeks thereafter. After the end of the 2020 Parliamentary Session on December 23, I traveled to Seattle, WA where I joined my late uncle’s only daughter for a private memorial of less than 10-people, to honour the loss of our loved ones after not be able to attend the funeral of my uncle at the time of his passing. I returned to Canada on December 31.
“Although the purpose of my travel is deemed essential under the circumstances, I have decided to step aside from my duties as parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development in an effort to ensure my choices do not distract from the important work of our government to continue battling the pandemic,” her statement read.
Khera was the first federal politician in Canada to test positive for COVID-19 back in March.
At the time, Khera who is a registered nurse, said that she had signed up to help provide virtual medical care to patients after the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.
In the statement, the Liberal MP said that she also volunteered at a long-term care home hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My decision to run as a member of parliament was ultimately born from my desire to serve my community,” her statement said. “I am therefore choosing to focus my efforts on the most pressing concern in our fight against COVID-19; to ensure we are able to vaccinate as many people as possible, as fast as possible. I hope to be able to do my part in the vaccine rollout where there may be nursing shortages, and will do this in addition to my role as member of parliament from Brampton-West.”
Several Canadian politicians have faced public backlash after leaving the country during the holidays despite public health advice to avoid non-essential travel amid the surge of COVID-19 cases.
Last week Rod Phillips, Ajax MPP, resigned from his post as Ontario’s finance minister after his secret vacation to the Caribbean came to light.
Manitoba MP Niki Ashton also lost her cabinet critic position after she travelled to Greece to visit a family member who was seriously ill.
This week Alberta Premier Jason Kenney accepted the resignations of Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard as minister of municipal affairs and of Jamie Huckabay, his chief of staff.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Kenney said he has also demoted five other United Conservative Party MLAs who travelled internationally over the holidays.
These individuals demonstrated extremely poor judgement, the Alberta premier said.
