Jinny Sims

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.

Jinny Sims MLA
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
Incumbent
Assumed office May 9, 2017
Preceded by	Marvin Hunt
Member of the Canadian 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	(1952-06-07) June 7, 1952 Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Stephen Sims
Residence	Surrey, British Columbia
Profession	Teacher, union leader

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] 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 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]

Electoral record

2017 British Columbia general election: Surrey-Panorama
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Jinny Sims	10,910	50.53
	Liberal	Puneet Sandhar	9,126	42.27
	Green	Veronica Laurel Greer	1,437	6.66
	Refederation	Liz Galenzoski	117	0.54
Total valid votes			21,590	100.00
Source: Elections BC[13]

2015 Canadian federal election: Surrey—Newton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Sukh Dhaliwal	24,869	55.98	+21.90	–
	New Democratic	Jinny Sims	11,604	26.12	-9.17	–
	Conservative	Harpreet Singh	6,976	15.70	-11.72	–
	Green	Pamela Sangha	975	2.2	-0.40	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			44,424	100.0		$197,640.76
Total rejected ballots			–	–	–
Turnout			44,424	68.55	–
Eligible voters			64,798
	Liberal notional gain from New Democratic		Swing		+15.54
Source: Elections Canada[14][15]

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

1. "Election 2011: Newton—North Delta". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
2. "About Jinny Sims". jinnysims.ndp.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20.
3. Cordery, Walter (February 12, 2004). "Jinny Sims seeking B.C. union's top job". Nanaimo Daily News. Nanaimo, British Columbia. p. A5.
4. "Teachers elect Jinny Sims as new president". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. 17 Mar 2004. p. A7.
5. Mason, Chris (May 20, 2005). "Liberals, BCTF ready to bury ill will from election campaign". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A6.
6. Bellett, Gerry (May 27, 2005). "B.C. teachers take Premier to court: Campbell 'defamed' union". National Post. p. A7.
7. Bailey, Ian; Jack Keating (October 4, 2005). "Teachers contract legislated: Imposed deal offers no salary increase, blocks job action". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
8. Mickleburgh, Rod (October 10, 2005). "Teachers guilty of contempt, B.C. judge concludes". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
9. Bridge, Maurice (October 22, 2005). "Judge slaps $500,000 fine on teachers: Penalty for illegal strike may yet be increased". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A3.
10. Mickleburgh, Rod (October 14, 2005). "B.C. court orders halt to teachers' strike pay". The Globe and Mail. p. A1.
11. Shaw, Rob; Darah Hansen; Janet Steffenhagen; Jonathan Fowlie (October 24, 2005). "Teachers back at work but fight far from over". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A2.
12. Chung, Emily (July 3, 2006). "Pressure from public hastened teachers' deal". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
13. "2017 Provincial General Election Preliminary Voting Results". Elections BC. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
14. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Surrey—Newton, 30 September 2015
15. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2015-08-15 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Jinny Sims – Parliament of Canada biography
• Official NDP Site
• How'd They Vote Summary

British Columbia Provincial Government of John Horgan
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Jas Johal	Minister of Citizens' Services July 18, 2017 – October 4, 2019	Selina Robinson