Jinny Sims

Jinny Sims
MLA
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 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	June 7, 1952 (age 72); Jalandhar, Punjab, India
Political party	New Democratic Party ; Surrey Forward
Spouse	Stephen Sims
Residence	Surrey, British Columbia
Profession	Teacher, union leader

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.

Early life

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]

BCTF president

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]

Accusations

Jinny sims was cleared of any wrongdoing. 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 and WhatsApp 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.^[13]

Electoral record

Provincial elections

v t e 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 Democratic hold		Swing		+1.60
Source: Elections BC^[14]^[15]

v t e 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^[16]^[17]

Federal elections

v t e 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
	Liberal notional gain from New Democratic		Swing		+15.54
Source: Elections Canada^[18]^[19]

References

^ "Election 2011: Newton—North Delta". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
^ "About Jinny Sims". jinnysims.ndp.ca. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012.
^ Cordery, Walter (12 February 2004). "Jinny Sims seeking B.C. union's top job". Nanaimo Daily News. Nanaimo, British Columbia. p. A5.
^ "Teachers elect Jinny Sims as new president". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. 17 March 2004. p. A7.
^ Mason, Chris (20 May 2005). "Liberals, BCTF ready to bury ill will from election campaign". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A6.
^ Bellett, Gerry (27 May 2005). "B.C. teachers take Premier to court: Campbell 'defamed' union". National Post. p. A7.
^ Bailey, Ian; Jack Keating (4 October 2005). "Teachers contract legislated: Imposed deal offers no salary increase, blocks job action". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
^ Mickleburgh, Rod (10 October 2005). "Teachers guilty of contempt, B.C. judge concludes". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
^ Bridge, Maurice (22 October 2005). "Judge slaps $500,000 fine on teachers: Penalty for illegal strike may yet be increased". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A3.
^ Mickleburgh, Rod (14 October 2005). "B.C. court orders halt to teachers' strike pay". The Globe and Mail. p. A1.
^ Shaw, Rob; Darah Hansen; Janet Steffenhagen; Jonathan Fowlie (24 October 2005). "Teachers back at work but fight far from over". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A2.
^ Chung, Emily (3 July 2006). "Pressure from public hastened teachers' deal". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.
^ Zussman, Richard (3 April 2020). "Former B.C. cabinet minister Jinny Sims cleared of all criminal wrongdoing". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Surrey—Newton, 30 September 2015
^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates

External links

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

[1] "Election 2011: Newton—North Delta". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

[2] "About Jinny Sims". jinnysims.ndp.ca. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012.

[3] Cordery, Walter (12 February 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 March 2004. p. A7.

[5] Mason, Chris (20 May 2005). "Liberals, BCTF ready to bury ill will from election campaign". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A6.

[6] Bellett, Gerry (27 May 2005). "B.C. teachers take Premier to court: Campbell 'defamed' union". National Post. p. A7.

[7] Bailey, Ian; Jack Keating (4 October 2005). "Teachers contract legislated: Imposed deal offers no salary increase, blocks job action". The Province. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.

[8] Mickleburgh, Rod (10 October 2005). "Teachers guilty of contempt, B.C. judge concludes". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.

[9] Bridge, Maurice (22 October 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 (14 October 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 (24 October 2005). "Teachers back at work but fight far from over". Times Colonist. Victoria, British Columbia. p. A2.

[12] Chung, Emily (3 July 2006). "Pressure from public hastened teachers' deal". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia. p. A3.

[13] Zussman, Richard (3 April 2020). "Former B.C. cabinet minister Jinny Sims cleared of all criminal wrongdoing". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 November 2020.

[14] "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 30 August 2021.

[15] "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

[16] "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 5 December 2020.

[17] "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.

[18] Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Surrey—Newton, 30 September 2015

[19] Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates

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v t e Current members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
New Democratic	Eby B. Anderson G. Anderson Arora Bailey Beare Begg Blatherwick Boyle Brar Chandra Herbert Chant Chouhan Choi Chow Davidson Dhir Dix Elmore Farnworth Gibson Glumac Greene Higginson Kahlon Kang Krieger Lajeunesse Lore Ma Malcolmson Morissette Neill Osborne Parmar Phillip Popham Rotchford Routledge Sandhu Shah Sharma Sunner Toporowski Whiteside Wickens Yung
Conservative	Rustad Armstrong Banman Bhangu Bird Block Boultbee Brodie Chan Chapman Clare Davis Day Dew Dhaliwal Doerkson Gasper Giddens Halford Hartwell Hepner Kealy Kindy Kooner Loewen Luck Maahs McCall McInnis Milobar Mok K. Neufeld L. Neufeld Paton Rattée Stamer Sturko Tepper Toor Van Popta Warbus Wat Williams Wilson
Green	Botterell Valeriote
Membership per the 2024 British Columbia general election on October 19, 2024.