Parliamentary Relatives: Spouses.

• Date: 22 March 2022
• Author: Winters, Nellie

Municipally, provincially, and federally, governing bodies across Canada have seen numerous political families. Parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, brothers, sisters, in-laws--direct and extended-family dynasties are scattered throughout the nation's political history.

Entrenched among these narratives are those of parliamentarians linked by love rather than blood. Of known couples, partners have often served in the House of Commons sequentially rather than simultaneously. Notably, many widows ran in subsequent elections after the deaths of their husbands.

This article, however, looks at Members of Parliament who worked concurrently as colleagues and spouses.

Nina and Gurmant Grewal

Nina and Gurmant Grewal were the first legally married couple to serve as Members of Parliament at the same time. Their road to Ottawa began on the other side of the world. Gurmant, born in India, and Nina, born in Japan, lived in Liberia together before immigrating to Canada. Gurmant was elected to the House of Commons in 1997 for the riding of Surrey Central in British Columbia winning re-election in 2000. From 2004-2006, he represented Newton--North Delta. He did not seek...