Bhutila Karpoche
Bhutila Karpoche MPP (born 1983 or 1984)[1] is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.[1] She represents the riding of Parkdale—High Park. She is the official opposition mental health and addictions critic.
Bhutila Karpoche MPP | |
---|---|
Critic, Mental Health and Addictions | |
Assumed office August 23, 2018 | |
Leader | Andrea Horwath |
Deputy Opposition Whip | |
In office August 23, 2018 – August 30, 2019 | |
Leader | Andrea Horwath |
Succeeded by | Doly Begum |
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Parkdale—High Park | |
Assumed office June 7, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Cheri DiNovo |
Personal details | |
Born | 1983/1984 (age 36–37)[1] Nepal |
Political party | New Democratic |
Residence | Toronto |
Alma mater | University of British Columbia, University of Toronto |
She is the first person of Tibetan descent ever elected to public office in North America.[1]
Background
Karpoche was born in Nepal and moved to the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale as a child with her family.
Prior to her election, Karpoche worked for Cheri DiNovo, her predecessor as member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Parkdale-High Park, first in DiNovo's constituency office and more recently as her executive assistant at Queens Park.[2] She also served on the board of directors of the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, and on the steering committee of the International Tibet Network.[3]
She holds a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and is currently a PhD candidate in Public Health Policy at Ryerson University.[4]
Career
On September 14, 2017, the Parkdale—High Park New Democratic Party (NDP) riding association nominated Karpoche as the party's candidate in the upcoming general election[5]. She won the election on June 7, 2018 with 59.41% support from voters.
Upon being sworn in as an MPP, Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath appointed Karpoche as deputy opposition whip and mental health and addictions critic. In a shadow cabinet shuffle on August 30, 2019, the deputy opposition whip was passed to Doly Begum.
In 2019, she was voted Toronto's Best Local Politician by Toronto Star readers[6] and Best MPP by Now Magazine readers[7].
Electoral record
2018 Ontario general election: Parkdale—High Park | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
New Democratic | Bhutila Karpoche | 32,407 | 59.41 | +13.21 | ||||
Progressive Conservative | Adam Pham | 9,821 | 18.00 | +6.26 | ||||
Liberal | Nadia Guerrera | 9,271 | 17.00 | -20.42 | ||||
Green | Halyna Zalucky | 2,544 | 4.66 | +1.33 | ||||
Libertarian | Matthias Nunno | 371 | 0.68 | +0.25 | ||||
Communist | Jay Watts | 135 | 0.25 | |||||
Turnout | 54,549 | 65.02 | +8.12 | |||||
Eligible voters | 83,879 | |||||||
New Democratic hold | Swing | +3.42 | ||||||
Source: Elections Ontario[8] |
References
- Kennedy, Brendan (June 7, 2018). "NDP's Bhutila Karpoche wins Parkdale-High Park, becoming first Tibetan ever elected to public office in North America". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
- "NDP politician Cheri DiNovo may be leaving politics, but her work on LGBT issues isn’t over". Daily Xtra, September 20, 2017.
- "First Tibetan, Bhutila Karpoche Wins Election in Canada". Tibetan Journal, June 8, 2018.
- "About Bhutila". Bhutila Karpoche. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- "Canada Tibet Committee | Library | WTN". www.tibet.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- "Readers' Choice". www.thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- "Readers' Choice". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
- "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 9. Retrieved 20 January 2019.