Jinny Jogindera Sims (born June 7, 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian politician, who was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2017 provincial election in Surrey-Panorama. She previously was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2011 election.[1] She represented the electoral district of Newton—North Delta as a member of the New Democratic Party. Sims was also a candidate for Mayor of Surrey in the October 2022 civic elections. She placed fourth with 12.58% of the vote.
Jinny Sims | |
|---|---|
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| Minister for Citizens' Services of British Columbia | |
| In office July 18, 2017 – October 4, 2019 | |
| Premier | John Horgan |
| Preceded by | Jas Johal (As Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services) |
| Succeeded by | Selina Robinson |
| Critic for Employment | |
| In office August 13, 2013 – November 19, 2015 | |
| Leader | Thomas Mulcair |
| Preceded by | Chris Charlton |
| Succeeded by | Karen Vecchio |
| Critic for Immigration | |
| In office April 19, 2012 – August 13, 2013 | |
| Leader | Thomas Mulcair |
| Preceded by | Don Davies |
| Succeeded by | Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe |
| Critic for International Cooperation | |
| In office October 3, 2011 – April 18, 2012 | |
| Leader | Nycole Turmel |
| Preceded by | Hélène Laverdière |
| Succeeded by | Romeo Saganash |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Panorama | |
| Assumed office May 9, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Marvin Hunt |
| Member of Parliament for Newton—North Delta | |
| In office May 30, 2011 – August 4, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sukh Dhaliwal |
| Succeeded by | Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey—Newton) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 7, 1952 Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| Political party | New Democratic Party Surrey Forward |
| Spouse | Stephen Sims |
| Residence | Surrey, British Columbia |
| Profession | Teacher, union leader |
Early life edit
Born to a Sikh family, Sims emigrated to England from Punjab, India, at the age of nine. She earned a Bachelor of Education degree at the Victoria University of Manchester (now the University of Manchester). Sims and her husband moved to Canada in 1975,[2] spending two years in Quebec before moving to Nanaimo where she was a high school teacher until the early 2000s.[3]
BCTF president edit
She was elected president of the BC Teachers' Federation in 2004[4] and served in that role until 2007. In her role as president of the BCTF, she was involved in the May 2005 provincial election when the BC Liberal Party, a week before the election, accused the BCTF of having a "secret plan" to strike two days after the election;[5] the organization subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit.[6] When the teachers, who had been working for over a year without a contract, did provide strike notice in September 2005, the provincial government immediately extended, by legislation, the last contract to June 2006 and made a potential strike illegal.[7] Regardless, Sims led the teachers in job action, culminating in a two-week strike. The Labour Relations Board determined the strike illegal and the BC Supreme Court found the BCTF in civil contempt of court, fined the BCTF $500,000 and ordered the BCTF to not pay the teachers a strike pay.[8][9][10] The strike ended when the membership voted to accept a $150-million mediated settlement which both the government and the BCTF executive had endorsed.[11] Sims's BCTF successfully negotiated a five-year contract in June 2006.[12]
Accusations edit
In October, 2019 allegations of misconduct were made against Sims, resulting in her resignation as Minister of Citizens Services. A special prosecutor, Richard Peck, was appointed to investigate the charges. Sims was accused of writing support letters for travel visas and of telling her staff to bypass freedom of information laws by using personal email and WhatsApp rather than official email addresses. In April, 2020 the special prosecutor reported that he and the RCMP had found no evidence to support the charges against her and had cleared her of any wrongdoing.[13]
Electoral record edit
Provincial elections edit
| 2020 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Panorama | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 12,336 | 55.07 | +4.22 | $60,769.34 | |||
| Liberal | Gulzar Cheema | 9,607 | 42.89 | +1.03 | $65,963.02 | |||
| Vision | Sophie Shrestha | 458 | 2.04 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes | 22,401 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 240 | 1.06 | +0.27 | |||||
| Turnout | 22,641 | 51.65 | −9.39 | |||||
| Registered voters | 43,835 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +1.60 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[14][15] | ||||||||
| 2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Panorama | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 12,227 | 50.85 | +15.11 | $64,840 | |||
| Liberal | Puneet Sandhar | 10,064 | 41.86 | −12.43 | $66,078 | |||
| Green | Veronica Laurel Greer | 1,620 | 6.74 | +1.06 | $0 | |||
| Refederation | Liz Galenzoski | 132 | 0.55 | – | $250 | |||
| Total valid votes | 24,043 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 192 | 0.79 | +0.14 | |||||
| Turnout | 24,235 | 61.04 | +3.32 | |||||
| Registered voters | 39,701 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC[16][17] | ||||||||
Federal elections edit
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Surrey—Newton | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Sukh Dhaliwal | 24,869 | 55.98 | +21.90 | $165,371.15 | |||
| New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 11,602 | 26.12 | -9.17 | $123,083.62 | |||
| Conservative | Harpreet Singh | 6,978 | 15.71 | -11.71 | $89,371.95 | |||
| Green | Pamela Sangha | 975 | 2.19 | -0.40 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,424 | 100.00 | $199,113.86 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 328 | 0.73 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 44,752 | 69.06 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 64,798 | |||||||
| Liberal notional gain from New Democratic | Swing | +15.54 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[18][19] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election: Newton—North Delta | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 15,413 | 33.42 | +7.29 | ||||
| Liberal | Sukh Dhaliwal | 14,510 | 31.46 | -4.96 | ||||
| Conservative | Mani Kaur Fallon | 14,437 | 31.30 | +0.39 | ||||
| Green | Liz Walker | 1,520 | 3.30 | -2.30 | ||||
| Independent | Ravi S. Gill | 123 | 0.27 | – | ||||
| Communist | Sam Hammond | 116 | 0.25 | -0.02 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 46,119 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 294 | 0.63 | +0.07 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,413 | 62.59 | +0.52 | |||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +5.79 | ||||||
References edit
- ^ "Election 2011: Newton—North Delta". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ "About Jinny Sims". jinnysims.ndp.ca. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012.
- ^ Cordery, Walter (12 February 2004). "Jinny Sims seeking B.C. union's top job". Nanaimo Daily News. Nanaimo, British Columbia. p. A5.
- ^ "Teachers elect Jinny Sims as new president". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. 17 March 2004. p. A7.
- ^ Mason, Chris (20 May 2005). "Liberals, BCTF ready to bury ill will from election campaign". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A6.
- ^ Bellett, Gerry (27 May 2005). "B.C. teachers take Premier to court: Campbell 'defamed' union". National Post. p. A7.
- ^ Bailey, Ian; Jack Keating (4 October 2005). "Teachers contract legislated: Imposed deal offers no salary increase, blocks job action". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
- ^ Mickleburgh, Rod (10 October 2005). "Teachers guilty of contempt, B.C. judge concludes". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
- ^ Bridge, Maurice (22 October 2005). "Judge slaps $500,000 fine on teachers: Penalty for illegal strike may yet be increased". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A3.
- ^ Mickleburgh, Rod (14 October 2005). "B.C. court orders halt to teachers' strike pay". The Globe and Mail. p. A1.
- ^ Shaw, Rob; Darah Hansen; Janet Steffenhagen; Jonathan Fowlie (24 October 2005). "Teachers back at work but fight far from over". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A2.
- ^ Chung, Emily (3 July 2006). "Pressure from public hastened teachers' deal". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
- ^ Zussman, Richard (3 April 2020). "Former B.C. cabinet minister Jinny Sims cleared of all criminal wrongdoing". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Surrey—Newton, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
External links edit
