Mable Elmore

Mable Elmore is a Canadian politician that represents the Vancouver-Kensington electoral district in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. She was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 2009 provincial election and re-elected in the 2013 and 2017 elections. Her party formed the official opposition to a BC Liberal majority government from 2009 to 2017 during which time she served as the NDP critic on Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and deputy critic for finance and spent some time as the critic for child care and early learning issues. Since 2017, when her party formed the government in the 41st Parliament she has been the Parliamentary Secretary for Poverty Reduction.

Mable Elmore MLA
Parliamentary Secretary for Poverty Reduction of British Columbia
Incumbent
Assumed office July 18, 2017
Preceded by	Position Created
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Kensington
Incumbent
Assumed office May 12, 2009
Preceded by	David Chudnovsky
Personal details
Born	Langley, British Columbia
Political party	New Democrat
Residence	Vancouver
Occupation	Politician

Prior to becoming the first MLA of Filipino descent, Elmore worked in Vancouver driving buses for the Coast Mountain Bus Company. She was active within Vancouver's Filipino Canadian community and within her union. Coming out of the University of British Columbia she volunteered and then worked at the BC Philippine Women Centre. Since her high school years, she had helped organize campaigns regarding social justice issues and the peace movement.

Elmore was a candidate for the New Democratic Party nomination in Vancouver East for the 2015 federal election, though Jenny Kwan won and went on to become the riding's Member of Parliament.

Background

Elmore's mother immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1965 and met her father, an Irish Canadian manager at a pulp and paper mill, while in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.[1] A couple of years later Mable was born in Langley. The family moved to Nova Scotia and they lived in Turkey for a brief time, but they spent most of Elmore's youth living in Manitoba.[2] It was at her high school in Winnipeg, learning about South African apartheid, that she became politically aware and active.[3] Following high school, she attended the University of British Columbia studying physical education and volunteered at the BC Philippine Women Centre, which turned into a full-time job. Several years later, Elmore started working as a bus driver for the Coast Mountain Bus Company. She was a vocal advocate for social justice issues and worker rights. She was active with the Vancouver and District Labour Council, the BC Federation of Labour, and in her union, the CAW Local 111.[4][5] She helped organize peace and anti-war marches in Vancouver.[6][7]

Politics

With the 2009 provincial election approaching, and incumbent New Democratic MLA David Chudnovsky retiring, Elmore put her name forward as a candidate for the NDP nomination in the Vancouver-Kensington riding. Due an internal BC NDP rule requiring that the subsequent NDP candidate be female in ridings where there is a retiring male NDP MLA, only women could be nominated.[8] Elmore's only challenger was former BC Teachers' Federation president Jinny Sims, whom Elmore defeated in the March 2009 nomination election.[9] Within hours of her nomination, copies of a 2004 interview with Elmore published in an online magazine, called Seven Oaks, were distributed in which, in reference to her anti-war activism within a union environment, Elmore identified "vocal Zionists in our worksites" as a challenge.[9] This was viewed as a disparaging remark and party leader Carole James asked Elmore to make a public apology.[10] The general election was held in May when Elmore was running against realtor and former radio host Syrus Lee for the BC Liberal Party and engineer Doug Warkentin for the BC Green Party.[11] Elmore had the support of many in the Filipino Canadian community who helped campaign for her.[3] Elmore's campaign manager helped thwart an attempt to circumvent election laws by the Kash Heed campaign, a BC Liberal candidate in a neighbouring riding, after she was informed of Heed's intent to mail, in the Vancouver-Kensington riding, anti-NDP pamphlets, which did not include the proper disclosure and documentation.[12] Regardless, Elmore went on to win the general election with 53% of the vote, though her party lost to the BC Liberals who formed a majority government with the NDP as the official opposition. Elmore was the first Filipino Canadian to be elected as a Member of the BC Legislative Assembly,[13] and only the second (after Jenn McGinn) openly lesbian member.[14]

As the 39th Parliament began, Elmore was assigned the role of deputy critic on the Ministry of Children and Family Development, with fellow NDP MLA Maurine Karagianis as the full-time critic.[15] In this role, Elmore identified financial misstatements by Solicitor-General Kash Heed which forced Heed and the Premier to reverse a planned $440,000 cut to domestic violence programs.[16] She was appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Children and Youth in all four sessions of the Parliament. She also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services in the third and fourth session. Elmore was part of an effort to defend party leader Carole James in 2010 when MLAs began to criticize the party leadership.[17][18] Following James' resignation as leader, interim leader Dawn Black re-assigned Elmore to be the opposition's multiculturalism critic,[19] and in the April 2011 leadership election Elmore endorsed Adrian Dix.[20] In July 2012, Dix re-assigned her to be the Critic for ICBC and Deputy Critic for Finance.[21]

In the 2013 provincial election Elmore was challenged by Philippines-born Gabby Kalaw for the BC Liberals, research scientist Chris Fjell for the BC Greens, and realtor Raj Gupta for the BC Conservatives,[22] but won with over 50% of the vote. With her party forming the Official Opposition in the 40th Parliament, she retained her critic roles focusing on ICBC and finance, even after John Horgan became party leader in the May 2014 leadership election, though she was also a vocal critic of the abuse of the temporary foreign worker program.[23][24] In January 2017, Horgan re-assigned her critic roles to formally focus on temporary foreign workers and immigration while keeping her as deputy critic on finance.[25] Meanwhile, following the announcement that Libby Davies would not seek re-election as the Member of Parliament in the 2015 federal election, the 45 year old Elmore sought the New Democratic Party nomination in Vancouver East.[26][27][28][29] She was challenged by fellow MLA Jenny Kwan and in the nomination contest on March 22, 2015, Kwan was selected.[30][31]

Elmore sought re-election in Vancouver-Kensington during the 2017 provincial election but faced former senior advisor for the BC Ministry of Health Kim Chan Logan for the BC Liberals and Simon Rear for the BC Greens. [32][33] She won her riding with over 50% of the vote but her party began the 41st Parliament as the official opposition to a BC Liberal minority government. After the BC Liberals lost a confidence vote and the BC NDP formed the minority government, the new Premier, John Horgan, appointed Elmore to be the position of parliamentary secretary for poverty reduction under Social Development Minister Shane Simpson, as well as the deputy government caucus chairperson.[34] She co-chaired an advisory committee on poverty reduction tasked with offering expertise and advice on how best to implement a Poverty Reduction Strategy and recommending priority actions and principles for that strategy.[35]

Electoral history

2017 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Kensington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Mable Elmore	12,504	55.57
	Liberal	Kim Jee Chan Logan	7,236	32.16
	Green	Simon Alexander Rear	2,580	11.47
	Your Political Party	Ramanjit Kaur Dhillon	181	0.80
Total valid votes			22,501	100.00
Source: Elections BC[36]

2013 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Kensington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democratic	Mable Elmore	10,687	51.37
	Liberal	Gabby Kalaw	7,965	38.29
	Green	Chris Fjell	1,393	7.59
	Conservative	Raj Gupta	572	2.75
Total valid votes			20,802	100.00
Total rejected ballots			254	1.21
Turnout			21,056	54.33
Source: Elections BC[37]

B.C. General Election 2009: Vancouver-Kensington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Mable Elmore	9,930	52.55%		$85,850
	Liberal	Syrus Lee	7,678	40.63%		$39,514
	Green	Doug Warkentin	1,288	6.82%	–	$780
Total Valid Votes			18,896	100%
Total Rejected Ballots			210	1.1%
Turnout			19,106	51.98%

References

1. Lee-Young, Joanne (June 16, 2010). "Pointing Filipinos in the right direction". The Vancouver Sun. p. A11.
2. Austin, Ian (June 5, 2009). "She B.C.'s first MLA of Philippine heritage; Social activist won over diverse community". The Province. Vancouver. p. A15.
3. Ward, Doug (May 25, 2009). "Faithful supporters carry B.C.'s first Filipino MLA into legislature". The Vancouver Sun. p. A4.
4. Hamilton, Gordon (May 5, 2005). "Unions Launch Campaign". The Vancouver Sun. p. B2.
5. Carrigg, David (June 22, 2005). "Mayor frazzled by Wal-Mart debate: Anti-big-box group out in force". The Province. Vancouver. p. A23.
6. Bridge, Maurice (June 24, 2006). "Peace marchers gather today: Thousands expected to walk for peace and sustainability". The Vancouver Sun. p. B8.
7. Youds, Mike (May 1, 2008). "War led to economic downturn, activist says". Kamloops Daily News. Kamloops. p. A4.
8. Wong, Jackie (May 7, 2009). "Study suggests bias in political-candidate selection". WestEnder. p. 3.
9. Palmer, Vaughn (March 24, 2009). "Seven weeks to the election and NDP is a party in search of issues". The Vancouver Sun. p. A3.
10. Fowlie, Jonathan (March 24, 2009). "NDP candidate apologizes for 'vocal Zionists' comment". The Vancouver Sun. p. A6.
11. Smedman, Lisa (April 24, 2009). "Vancouver-Kensington tightly contested in 2005". Vancouver Courier. p. 15.
12. Hunter, Justine (April 14, 2010). "Elections BC asked post office to cancel mail-outs". The Globe and Mail. p. S1.
13. "NDP's Mable Elmore is first Filipina to be elected to the B.C. legislature". The Vancouver Sun. May 12, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
14. "Filipinos rally behind NDP candidate Mable Elmore". Georgia Straight. April 2, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
15. "James makes some hard choices, talks tough with shadow cabinet". The Vancouver Sun. June 12, 2009. p. A3.
16. Matas, Robert (October 3, 2009). "Cutting remarks cost Heed credibility". The Globe and Mail. p. S3.
17. MacLeod, Andrew (December 4, 2010). "Who Are the NDP's 13 Dissidents?". The Tyee. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
18. Smith, Charlie (July 6, 2017). "Who is going to be in John Horgan's B.C. NDP cabinet?". Georgia Straight. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
19. Austin, Ian (January 27, 2011). "Provincial budget Feb. 15 unlikely to rock any boats". The Province. Vancouver. p. A8.
20. Austin, Ian (March 18, 2011). "NDP hopefuls gather backers in shadow of front-page news". The Province. Vancouver. p. A19.
21. Cassidy, Olivier (July 19, 2012). "Dix appoints NDP's newest MLAs to critic positions". The Province. Vancouver. p. A12.
22. "Meet the candidates". Vancouver Courier. May 8, 2013. p. 44.
23. Carman, Tara (April 18, 2014). "Gov'ts urged to repair foreign worker scheme". The Province. p. A11.
24. McIntyre, Gord (May 4, 2014). "The facts on temp foreign workers; What you need to know about the nationwide controversy that started in a Victoria McDonald's". The Province. p. A13.
25. "B.C. NDP leader John Horgan refreshes shadow cabinet ahead of May election". The Province. January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
26. "MLA Mable Elmore seeks federal NDP nomination to replace Libby Davies in Vancouver East". CBC News. 22 December 2014.
27. "Vancouver MLA Mable Elmore seeks federal NDP nomination". Global News. 22 December 2014.
28. Smith, Charlie (16 December 2014). "NDP can hold Vancouver East if the party chooses the right candidate". The Georgia Straight.
29. Nuttall, Jeremy (5 February 2015). "Game On For Coveted East Van Riding". The Tyee.
30. "MLA Jenny Kwan selected as NDP representative for Vancouver East". CKNW. 22 March 2015.
31. "Jenny Kwan wins federal NDP nomination for Vancouver East". CBC News. 22 March 2015.
32. Hoekstra, Gordon (March 23, 2017). "B.C. Liberal candidate asks parties to correct donations in her name". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
33. "Meet the candidates". Vancouver Courier. April 27, 2017. p. A28.
34. "Nanaimo MLA named NDP caucus chair". Times Colonist. July 20, 2017. p. A4.
35. Fletcher, Tom (November 21, 2017). "B.C. government poverty strategy tour set to begin". The News. Abbotsford, British Columbia.
36. "2017 Provincial General Election Preliminary Voting Results". Elections BC. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
37. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

External links

• Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - Mable Elmore
• Member of the Legislative Assembly - Mable Elmore (Vancouver-Kensington)
• British Columbia New Democratic Party - Mable Elmore