politics On July 17, 2014, following some speculation, Hehr announced he would seek the Liberal nomination in Calgary Centre for the 2015 federal election. On November 28, he was acclaimed as the Liberal candidate. The Liberals were very optimistic about their chances in the riding. Conservative incumbent Joan Crockatt had only won a 2012 by-election with 37 percent of the vote, the worst showing for a Tory in Calgary in recent memory. Additionally, a redistribution made the riding slightly friendlier to the Liberals on paper. At the October 19, 2015 election, Hehr defeated Crockatt by 750 votes. Alongside Calgary Skyview member of Parliament Darshan Kang, who was elected the same evening, Hehr became the first Liberal elected in Calgary since Pat Mahoney in 1968. He and Kang are only the fifth and sixth Liberals to represent Calgary ridings in the party's entire history. Hehr was appointed Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence in Justin Trudeau's first cabinet on November 4, 2015. In a cabinet shuffle in late 2017, Hehr became Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, succeeding Carla Qualtrough on August 28, 2017. In November 2017, it was reported that the Ethics Commissioner was investigating Hehr following accusations that he used Parliamentary Resources to help his father campaign for a seat on the Calgary Board of Education. He was subsequently cleared in this investigation. In December 2017, Hehr was accused of making insensitive remarks to a group of thalidomide survivors. In a meeting early that year, the members of the group accused Hehr of inappropriate touching, saying "Well you don't have it so bad. Everyone in Canada has a sob story", and in reference to their reduced life expectancy "So you probably have about 10 years left then now, that's good news for the Canadian government." He denied making the statement. Shortly after, a wife of a veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder came forward accusing him of poor treatment during a meeting in October 2016. The woman said he was "very condescending", gave her only two minutes of his time, when asked a question about the government denying maternity benefits he replied "Well, Ms. McCrea, that is the old question, like asking ... 'When did you stop beating your wife?, and when asked about support for her family he allegedly responded "you married him, he's your responsibility". Hehr resigned from cabinet on January 25, 2018,