Jinny Sims | |
|---|---|
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| Minister for Citizens' Services ofBritish 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 theBritish Columbia Legislative Assembly forSurrey-Panorama | |
| In office May 9, 2017 – September 21, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Marvin Hunt |
| Succeeded by | Bryan Tepper |
| Member of Parliament forNewton—North Delta | |
| In office May 30, 2011 – August 4, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Sukh Dhaliwal |
| Succeeded by | Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey—Newton) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-06-07)June 7, 1952 (age 73) Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| Political party | New Democratic Party Surrey Forward |
| Spouse | Stephen Sims |
| Residence | Surrey, British Columbia |
| Alma mater | University of Manchester |
| Profession | Teacher, union leader |
Jinny Jogindera Sims (born June 7, 1952) is anIndian-bornCanadian politician, who was elected as aNew Democratic PartyMember of theLegislative Assembly of British Columbia in the2017 provincial election inSurrey-Panorama and represented the riding until 2024. She previously was elected to theHouse of Commons of Canada in the2011 election.[1] She represented the electoral district ofNewton—North Delta as a member of theNew 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.
In the2024 British Columbia general election, she was unseated byBryan Tepper from theBC Conservative Party.[2]
Born to a Sikh family, Sims emigrated to England fromPunjab, India, at the age of nine. She earned a Bachelor of Education degree at the Victoria University of Manchester (now theUniversity of Manchester). Sims and her husband moved to Canada in 1975,[3] spending two years in Quebec before moving toNanaimo where she was a high school teacher until the early 2000s.[4]
She was elected president of theBC Teachers' Federation in 2004[5] and served in that role until 2007. In her role as president of the BCTF, she was involved in theMay 2005 provincial election when theBC Liberal Party, a week before the election, accused the BCTF of having a "secret plan" to strike two days after the election;[6] the organization subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit.[7] 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.[8] Regardless, Sims led the teachers in job action, culminating in a two-week strike. The Labour Relations Board determined the strike illegal and theBC Supreme Court found the BCTF in civil contempt of court, fined the BCTF $500,000 and ordered the BCTF to not pay the teachers astrike pay.[9][10][11] The strike ended when the membership voted to accept a $150-million mediated settlement which both the government and the BCTF executive had endorsed.[12] Sims's BCTF successfully negotiated a five-year contract in June 2006.[13]
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 andWhatsApp 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.[14]
| 2024 British Columbia general election:Surrey-Panorama | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Bryan Tepper | 8,735 | 49.6% | |||||
| New Democratic | Jinny Sims | 8,472 | 48.1% | -6.97 | ||||
| Freedom | Paramjit Rai | 404 | 2.3% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 17,611 | – | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Registered voters | ||||||||
| Source:Elections BC[15] | ||||||||
| 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 Democratichold | Swing | +1.60 | ||||||
| Source:Elections BC[16][17] | ||||||||
| 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[18][19] | ||||||||
| 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 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional gain fromNew Democratic | Swing | +15.54 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[20][21] | ||||||||
| 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 Democraticgain fromLiberal | Swing | +5.79 | ||||||
| British Columbia provincial government ofJohn Horgan | ||
| Cabinet post (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Jas Johal | Minister of Citizens' Services July 18, 2017 – October 4, 2019 | Selina Robinson |