Ruby Dhalla

Ruby Dhalla (born February 18, 1974) is a Canadian actress, activist, model and former politician.

She first attracted international attention in 1984, when she was ten years old and living in Winnipeg's north end.

When Indian soldiers took part in military actions at Golden Temple, Amritsar, Dhalla wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, advocating for peace and justice.

"'Dear Prime Minister I am writing you after watching the violence on TV and seeing so many Sikhs get killed. Please have the government solve this peacefully so Sikhs are not killed and the Golden Temple doesn't get attacked. Instead of violence and killings maybe sit around the table and talk with each other for a solution. You can settle all of these things, I hope as soon as possible, If I can help in any way please let me know.'"

Gandhi personally replied to Dhalla's letter and referred to it at a press conference held in the months before her assassination, inviting Dhalla to visit India; however, Gandhi was assassinated before Dhalla arrived.

She attended McMaster University for her first year of university on a full scholarship.

Dhalla was politically active from a young age and volunteered for Winnipeg Liberal candidate David Walker in the 1988 federal election, and later became a prominent member of the MANITOBA Young Liberals.

Dhalla was elected as a delegate to the 1990 Liberal Leadership Convention in Calgary and was one of the first young liberals in Manitoba to support Paul Martin.

She finished second in the Miss India Canada pageant in 1993.

Dhalla then resumed her remaining studies at the University of Winnipeg and received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry with a minor in political science from the University of Winnipeg in 1995 and was also short listed as a Rhodes Scholarship Nominee from Manitoba.

Dhalla worked on numerous political campaigns co-chairing different election committees and volunteering in many provincial and federal political campaigns in 1998, she was elected as youth representative the liberal part of Canada's standing committee on multiculturalism at the annual policy convention.

She instead moved to Toronto in the same year, and graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1999.

Upon graduating she started a chain of multidisciplinary health care clinics in the Greater Toronto Area.

Dhalla has also pursued a career in acting, working in India for six months and playing a leading role in Kyon? Kis Liye? (translated as Why? and for Whom?), a Bollywood-inspired Hindi-language film shot in Hamilton, Ontario.

Dhalla again supported Martin's bid to become Liberal Party leader in 2003.

She served as the Member of Parliament for Brampton—Springdale in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2011 as a member of the Liberal Party.

Dhalla and British Columbia Conservative MP Nina Grewal were the first Sikh women to serve in the House of Commons of Canada.

In May 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin nominated Dhalla as the Liberal candidate for Brampton—Springdale in the 2004 federal election.

This decision was opposed by the local Liberal Party riding executive, who had favoured Andrew Kania for the nomination.

The deputy campaign director for the Liberal Party defended Dhalla's selection, describing her as a star candidate who would be beneficial to the party.

Even though the Liberal Party was reduced to a minority government Dhalla as elected by a comfortable margin on June 28, 2004, and made history as one of the first women of Indian origin to get elected in Canada as a Member of Parliament.

Her victory was also historic as she was the woman of Indian origin to get elected in the world outside of India.

Given her health care credentials and business experience Dhalla was appointed to the Standing Committee on Health.

In Parliament Dhalla came to be known as an articulate and aggressive speaker on issues affecting her constituents, minorities and women.

Dhalla was a prominent organizer of the "Canada for Asia" benefit concert in January 2005, along with Senator Jerry Grafstein and singer Tom Cochrane.

The event raised money for victims of the previous month's tsunami disaster in southeast Asia.

She travelled with the Prime Minister to Sri Lanka and India in 2005 on a trade mission visit to promote trade between both nations.

In October 2005, Dhalla organized a relief effort for victims of an earthquake in Pakistan.

In parliament Dhalla introduced her first private members bill to create a secretariat for foreign credentials recognition.

This bill was passed in the House of Commons thus assisting recent Canadian immigrants in gaining professional employment.

Dhalla voted in favour of Canada's same-sex marriage legislation in 2005, on the grounds that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms must confer equality on different groups in society.

In late 2005, The Liberal government was defeated by a motion of no confidence, and a new election was called for early 2006.

Dhalla officially launched her re-election campaign in early December, with Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal as a star attendee.

Conservative candidate Sam Hundal attempted to use same-sex marriage as a wedge issue among recent immigrant voters, but was unsuccessful.

Dhalla was easily re-elected, while the Conservatives won a minority government at the national level.

After the election, Dhalla was appointed as the Liberal Health Critic in the Official Opposition.

In June 2006, she criticized Health Minister Tony Clement over a possible conflict-of-interest relating to his ownership of shares in Prudential Chem Inc.

The following month, she described Prime Minister Stephen Harper's refusal to attend an international AIDS conference in Toronto as "an embarrassment for Canada on the world stage".

She was defeated by Conservative Parm Gill in the 2011 federal election.

Dhalla was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to an immigrant family from Punjab, India.