Sonia Sidhu
- Born
- January 3, 1968 — India
- Family
- Married to Gurjit, twin daughters and a son
- Career
- Over 18 years in the healthcare field as a diabetes educator and research coordinator
- Political Experience
- Elected as a Member of Parliament for Brampton South in 2015. Sat on the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Health, and also was appointed to sit as a member of the Special Committee on Pay Equity. Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women as well as the Chair and the Liberal caucus champion for the All-Party Diabetes Caucus. General-Secretary of the Canada-India Parliamentary Friendship Group and an executive member of both the Canada-Poland and Canada-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship Groups. Member of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
- Notable
- Private member bill An Act to establish a national framework for diabetes (Bill C-237) was adopted.
Where Sonia falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Mr. Speaker, today on World Tuberculosis Day, we reflect on our progress and the work still ahead. TB is preventable, treatable and curable, yet it continues to affect thousands of people, including here in Canada. In recent years, over 2,500 people in Canada have been diagnosed. Yesterday, Health Canada approved a new drug that will expand access to shorter, safer preventive TB treatment. [more]
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Minister and Health Canada officials, for coming in today. My question is for the minister. Minister, I want to talk about AI. It's quickly becoming a key driver of innovation in health care. We have seen it first-hand in Medtronic with some of the technologies being developed. We saw how robots are doing surgeries. There are many other technologies being [more]
Let the minister speak. This is not a yes-or-no answer. Let the minister speak. We want to hear the answer too. Thank you.
Thank you.
Madam Chair, I'm very surprised—
Yes, that's correct.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to ask a question of PHAC. Vaccines remain one of the most effective ways to protect Canadians from infectious diseases. How will the additional funds in these estimates be used to expand access to critical vaccines across all regions of Canada, including underserved communities?
I want to go back to Health Canada. I know that safe injection sites save lives, but can you clarify to the committee, Ms. Weber, that safe injection sites do not provide access to drugs?
How will AI have a good impact on health innovation and patient care across Canada?
My next question is about clinical trials, which play a wide role in helping patients access new and innovative therapies while also supporting research, investment and better health outcomes in Canada. Health Canada has announced that it is working to modernize the clinical trials framework to make the system more efficient, more transparent and better aligned with innovation while maintaining [more]
Thank you. My next question is for PHAC. Personal support workers help patients in long-term care homes in Canada. How will the supplementary funds outlined in this budget be used to support their training, well-being and retention so Canadians can continue to receive safe and compassionate care in long-term homes?