Gerard Janssen

Gerard Janssen
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Alberni
In office November 19, 1988 – May 16, 2001
Preceded by	Ray Skelly
Succeeded by	Gillian Trumper
Personal details
Born	(1946-05-03) May 3, 1946 Venlo, Netherlands
Political party	British Columbia New Democratic Party
Occupation	Jeweller

Gerard A. Janssen (b. May 3, 1946) is a Dutch-born jeweller, watchmaker and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Alberni in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1988 to 2001 as a New Democratic Party (NDP) member.

He was born in Venlo, the son of Nicholas Jannsen and Maria Sloesen, and came to Canada with his parents in 1952. Janssen later took over the operation of the business established by his parents in 1956. In 1967, he married Florence Edith Irene McIver. He was a member of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce, also serving as its president. Janssen was first elected to the provincial assembly in a 1988 by-election held after Bob Skelly resigned his seat to enter federal politics. He served as government whip in the assembly. Janssen was a member of the provincial cabinet, serving as Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture from 2000 to 2001. He was defeated by Gillian Trumper when he ran for reelection to the assembly in the new riding of Alberni-Qualicum in 2001.

Electoral History

2001 British Columbia general election: Alberni-Qualicum
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gillian Trumper	13,109	53.32	+17.47	$34,684
	New Democratic	Gerard Janssen	7,395	30.08	-21.93	$10,768
	Green	Sergio Paone	2,999	12.20	+10.83	$4,066
	Marijuana	Nicholas Saint Edmund Thorp	1,081	4.40	–	$1,578
Total valid votes			24,584	100.00
Total rejected ballots			93	0.38
Turnout			24,677	74.70
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+19.7

1996 British Columbia general election: Alberni
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Gerard A. Janssen	7,398	52.01	-1.38
	Liberal	Gillian Trumper	5,099	35.85	+18.21
	Reform	V. Hansen	823	5.79	–
	Progressive Democrat	Ingrid Helen Rebar	578	4.06	–
	Green	Andre Sperling	195	1.37	–
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Karl Angus	72	0.51	–
	Natural Law	Kathleen Lapreyrouse	58	0.41	–
Total valid votes			14,223	100.00
Total rejected ballots			86	0.98
Turnout			14,309
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+9.80

1991 British Columbia general election: Alberni
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Gerard A. Janssen	7,136	53.39	-4.08
	Social Credit	Gillian Trumper	3,665	27.43	-0.37
	Liberal	Peter J. Tanner	2,358	17.64	+2.91
	Western Canada Concept	Alan W. Banford	206	1.54	–
Total valid votes			13,365	100.00
Total rejected ballots			372	0.27
Turnout			13,737
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-2.23

British Columbia provincial by-election, November 19, 1988: Alberni
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Gerard A. Janssen	6,401	57.47	+2.18
	Social Credit	George S. Dryden	3,096	27.80	−13.92
	Liberal	Shirley M. Bonfield	1,640	14.73	+12.3
Total valid votes/expense limit			11,137	100.0	–
Total rejected ballots			136	0.38
Turnout			11,273
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+8.05
By-election due to the Resignation of Robert Skelly to run for the Canadian House of Commons.
Source(s) "November 19, 1988 By-election" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. November 19, 1988. Retrieved January 19, 2017.