in Calgary and was one of the first young liberals in Manitoba to support Paul Martin. Dhalla again supported Paul Martin's bid to become Liberal Party leader in 2003. Member of Parliament Government member (2004–2006) 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