Bob Zimmer MP
Zimmer in 2024
Member of Parliament forPrince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Prince George—Peace River (2011–2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Jay Hill
Personal details
Born	(1968-10-20)October 20, 1968 (age 57) Dawson Creek,British Columbia, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Other political affiliations	Reform
Spouse	Val Zimmer
Children	4
Residence(s)	Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater	Northern Lights College Trinity Western University University of British Columbia
Profession	Teacher (North Peace Secondary School)

Bob ZimmerMP (born October 20, 1968) is a Canadian politician who has been themember of Parliament (MP) for theBritish Columbiariding ofPrince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies since May 2, 2011, as a member of theConservative Party.

Zimmer was born inDawson Creek, British Columbia, and grew up in nearbyFort St. John. After graduating fromNorth Peace Secondary School in 1986, he worked as a welder's assistant in the oil industry.^[1] Through theNorthern Lights College he became a journeyman carpenter and operated a small construction business between 1995 and 1998. In the 1990s, he moved to theFraser Valley to play in theBritish Columbia Rugby Union. Between 1999 and 2003 he attendedTrinity Western University, where he coachedvarsity rugby and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Human Kinetics.^[2] He completed a 12-monthteaching degree at theUniversity of British Columbia and moved back to Fort St. John where he accepted a teaching job at the North Peace Secondary School.

Zimmer joined theReform Party of Canada in 1988. He has citedRalph Klein, the formerpremier ofAlberta, andPreston Manning, the leader of Reform, as his political role models.^[1] While living inAbbotsford, British Columbia, he campaigned forRandy White, who was elected as a Reform Party member of parliament.^[3] After he returned to Fort St. John, he joined the Conservative Party's Prince George—Peace RiverElectoral District Association and served as its president until 2009 when he became its secretary and CEO.^[4] After long-time Member of ParliamentJay Hill announced he would not seek re-election, the riding's Electoral District Association held an election for the riding's Conservative Party nomination. In August 2010, Zimmer resigned from his duties in the Electoral District Association and announced he would stand in the nomination election.^[1] Five other people stood in the election, including fellow Fort St. John teacher Dan Davies and the former mayor ofPrince George Colin Kinsley. With 1,350 votes cast in the March 2011preferential vote, Zimmer won the nomination in the sixth round.^[5]

Thenext federal election was held in May 2011, when Zimmer faced former provincial politicianLois Boone for theNew Democratic Party, Prince George lawyer Ben Levine for theLiberal Party of Canada, and physiotherapist Hilary Crowley for theGreen Party of Canada. During the campaign Zimmer said he would advocate for reduced spending until the federal budget was balanced but also lobby to direct federal funds to widenHighways 2 and theAlaska Highway to four lanes between the Alberta border and Fort St. John.^[6][7] He noted that he believed pensions for former politicians were too high and that he would seek pension reform.^[8] Zimmer won the election with 62.12 per cent of the vote.

During the2015 federal election, Zimmer opposed another study into murdered and missing Aboriginal women during a heated local candidates debate, saying 42 previous studies had already been done and that a primary problem, as stated in theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police report, was economic status or lack of a job.^[9] After the debate, theUnion of British Columbia Indian Chiefs called for Zimmer to step down as a candidate. Zimmer had stated that, "One of the major drivers of missing and murdered aboriginal women is the lack of economic activity, or simply put, the lack of a job. … Ultimately, when people have a job, they're not in despair. They can stay on reserve, and that's where we want them to be, we want them to be happy where they live." Grand Chief Stewart Philip, the president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, characterized Zimmer's remarks as "simplistic" and "unacceptable".^[10] Zimmer later clarified his comments, stating that he was referencing the RCMP's report on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women which lists employment status as one of the risk factors of murdered Aboriginal women.^[11] Zimmer went on to say that, "I absolutely care about missing and murdered Aboriginal women and want to see it stopped. I have a wife and a daughter and a mother and it is a tragedy that we need to fix."^[12]

Zimmer was re-elected with over 50% of the vote,^[13] and his Conservative Party formed theOfficial Opposition for the42nd Canadian Parliament. After outgoingPrime MinisterStephen Harper resigned as leader of the Conservative Party,Rona Ambrose took over as acting leader; she appointed Zimmer to be thedeputy critic ofFamilies, Children and Social Development (toKaren Vecchio). In May 2016, Zimmer sponsored and brought forward in the House of Commons a petition with 25,000 signatures advocating for the de-restriction of theAR-15 semi-automaticmodern sporting rifle. A month later, when that weapon was used in theOrlando nightclub shooting, the petition and Zimmer's advocacy were criticized.^[14]

In the May 2017Conservative Party leadership election, Zimmer endorsedAndrew Scheer.^[15] Following Scheer's victory, he reassigned Zimmer to be deputy critic of theTreasury Board. On April 6, 2017, Zimmer introduced his firstprivate member's bill,Bill C-346An Act to amend the Firearms Act (licences) which would eliminate the expiry of firearms licences, with a mandatory provision that the licence holder update his or her relevant information every 10 years. The bill was debated butdefeated at the second reading stage in November 2017, with only the Conservative Party voting in favour.

InOctober 2019 he was re-elected again, this time with just shy of 70% of the vote. On November 29, 2019, Andrew Scheer named him to theShadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs and Northern Economic Development Agency.

On October 28, 2020, Zimmer was one of seven Members of Parliament who voted against a bill (C-6) to add the following offences to the Criminal Code:

(a) causing a person to undergoconversion therapy against the person's will;

(b) causing a child to undergo conversion therapy;

(c) doing anything for the purpose of removing a child from Canada with the intention that the child undergo conversion therapy outside Canada;

(d) advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy; and

(e) receiving a financial or other material benefit from the provision of conversion therapy.^[16][17]

Zimmer faced backlash from constituents on social media and subsequently blocked those who publicly criticized him, reinvigorating the use of the #BlockedByBob hashtag created when Zimmer blocked constituents who criticized him previously over his actions on Twitter.^[18] Numerous studies show that conversion therapy leads to consequences including depression and suicidal thoughts.^[19] Zimmer has defended his vote against Bill C-6 because he said it "leaves open the possibility that voluntary conversations between individuals and their parents, family members, pastors, teachers, or their counsellors may be criminalized."^[20] However, Bill C-6 does not criminalize voluntary conversations about sexuality and sexual orientation.^[17]

• Official Website
• Bob Zimmer – Parliament of Canada biography

• 1968 births
• Canadian schoolteachers
• Conservative Party of Canada MPs
• Living people
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia
• People from Dawson Creek
• People from Fort St. John, British Columbia
• Trinity Western University alumni
• University of British Columbia Faculty of Education alumni
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use Canadian English from January 2023
• All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English
• Canada election preliminary results