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Provincial politics

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. . . .

On February 22, during the 2010 Winter Olympics, Thornthwaite was arrested for drunk driving.[1] She was driving home after attending receptions at the Northern House and Sochi House when at 1 am she was stopped at a road block near the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. She twice registered a blood alcohol content of 0.11 in road-side breathalyzer tests and after being taken into custody.[2] The next day she issued a public apology stating "Drinking and driving is dangerous and completely unacceptable; I know that and make no excuses for what I did. I know what I did was wrong and I will take full responsibility for my actions. I intend to work hard to regain the trust of my constituents in light of this serious mistake and I want to apologize to everyone for my actions."[3] Party leader Gordon Campbell, who himself had faced similar charges in the past, stated that Thornthwaite should not resign her seat[4] and party caucus leader Ron Cantelon stated that she would not face disciplinary actions by the party.[5] A lawyer from Vancouver was assigned to act as a special prosecutor to review the incident[6] and recommended the charge of "operating a motor vehicle while having a blood-alcohol level over .08".[7][8] While she stated an intent not to not fight the charges at the time,[9] she pleaded "not guilty" at the May 12 court hearing and the judge set a trial date for April 2011.[10][11] At the trial, Thornthwaite argued that, while she did consume alcohol, she was not intoxicated.[2] The prosecution and defense agreed to a plea bargain requiring Thornthwaite to She plead guilty to "driving without due care and attention" in violation of the Motor Vehicle Act, which came with a $500 fine and one-month of community service but allowed her to avoid a criminal record.[2][12]

Thornthwaite's support for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), as well as her drunk-driving charge, made her a target for recall.[13][14] The FightHST group collected 6,903 signatures from her riding in support of repealing the HST[15] and placed Thornthwaite on their list of 18 BC Liberals to investigate for potential recall.[16] In the subsequent HST referendum her riding voted 60% in favour of keeping the HST, though the final province-wide result was 55% against keeping it. Early in the BC Liberal leadership election, Thornthwaite endorsed George Abbott, citing his potential for broad appeal saying "He doesn't have the rhetoric, he doesn't have the partisanship,"[17] and citing his willingness to quickly visit her riding and meet with her.[18] Christy Clark won the party leadership, and became Premier, but did not include Thornthwaite in her cabinet.[19]

Re-election

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Jane Thornthwaite was re-elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing North Vancouver-Seymour for a third term in May 2017 with 47 percent of the vote.[20] She competed against candidates representing the New Democratic Party and the Green Party, but the Liberal Party's representative has typically won the vote for the North Vancouver-Seymour seat.[20] Thornthwaite's stated political goals while in office are to improve traffic congestion, animal rights, mental health, and local film tourism.[20]

The British Columbia (BC) Liberal Party has had the riding since 1991,[20] but the New Democratic Party won majority control of the government for the first time in decades, forming a coalition with the BC Green Party. As a member of the BC Liberal Party, Thornthwaite now serves as a member of the Official Opposition for the first time.[21] She was appointed as official Opposition critic for mental health and addictions, a role similar to her prior work as Parliamentary Secretary of mental health for children.[22]

In 2017, phase 1 of a $198 million highway construction project on Highway 1 began after eight years of lobbying by Thornthwaite.[23] Afterwards, she began lobbying for an expansion of the skytrain to North Shore, Vancouver.[24] She also advocated for increased local funding of public transit projects to match the federal government's contributions of $2.2 billion over 11 years.[25]

Animal welfare

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Thornthwaite has long been active in animal welfare activism. When entering university, she had originally intended to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. In early 2012, she announced plans to introduce legislation to ban puppy mills in British Columbia, stating that "I would like to have some sort of regulatory standard for breeders so puppy mills or unscrupulous breeders, who are not treating their animals humanely, are put out of business."[26] Pet industry groups have expressed support for her initiative, and Thornthwaite introduced Bill M-214, the "Standards of Care for Breeders of Companion Animals Act", on April 23, 2012.[27] The bill did not pass initially, but Thornthwaite re-introduced it in 2016 after a government raid rescued 66 mistreated dogs from a puppy mill.[28][29] The bill passed that April.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Hunter, Justine (February 24, 2010). "B.C. MLA facing impaired driving charges". The Globe and Mail. p. S7.
  2. ^ a b c Seyd, Jane (April 14, 2011). "'Time to move on,' MLA says after avoiding criminal record". The Vancouver Sun. p. A11.
  3. ^ "Special prosecutor approves impaired-driving charges against MLA Thornthwaite". The Vancouver Sun. April 29, 2010. Archived from the original on March 21, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  4. ^ "MLA charged with drunk driving need not resign seat, premier says". Times Colonist. February 25, 2010. p. A8.
  5. ^ Horner, Neil (February 25, 2010). "MLA didn't cross line: Cantelon". Parksville - Qualicum News. Parksville, British Columbia. p. 7.
  6. ^ "Criminal Justice Branch Announces Appointment of Special Prosecutor" (PDF) (Press release). Ministry of Attorney General (British Columbia). April 9, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  7. ^ "Special Prosecutor Approves Charges" (PDF) (Press release). Ministry of Attorney General (British Columbia). April 28, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  8. ^ Mercer, Katie (April 13, 2010). "May 12 court date for MLA". The Province. Vancouver. p. A13.
  9. ^ Hunter, Justine (February 24, 2010). "Drunk driving MLA 'really sorry'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  10. ^ Seyd, Jane (June 30, 2010). "Thornthwaite pleads not guilty; MLA will go to trial for impaired driving". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 4.
  11. ^ Seyd, Jane (June 26, 2010). "MLA's impaired driving trial set for next April". The Vancouver Sun. p. A2.
  12. ^ Seyd, Jane (April 13, 2011). "MLA avoids criminal record after pleading guilty to minor offence". The Province. Vancouver. p. A23.
  13. ^ Bell, Bill (August 28, 2010). "What three letters trump HST? DUI". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 6.
  14. ^ Seyd, Jane (September 26, 2010). "Recall campaign could target MLAs Thornthwaite, McIntyre". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 1.
  15. ^ Alldritt, Benjamin (August 13, 2010). "MLAs targeted for recall vote; Anti-HST campaigners plan to force North Van reps from office". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 1.
  16. ^ Seyd, Jane (September 15, 2010). "HST to go to provincial referendum; Fight-HST organizers vow to go ahead with recall campaigns". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 1.
  17. ^ Seyd, Jane; Kerry Blackadar (February 2, 2011). "MLAs make leadership choices". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 1.
  18. ^ Alldritt, Benjamin (December 10, 2010). "Two North Shore MLAs pick leader candidates". North Shore News. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 3.
  19. ^ Hoekstra, Greg (March 14, 2011). "North Van MLA nets new cabinet position". The North Shore Outlook. North Vancouver, British Columbia. p. 1.
  20. ^ a b c d Richter, Brent (May 9, 2017). "UPDATED: Thornthwaite re-elected in North Vancouver-Seymour". North Shore News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  21. ^ Seyd, Jane. "'Help is on the way' says North Vancouver Lonsdale MLA". North Shore News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  22. ^ Richter, Brent. "Two North Shore Liberal MLAs join shadow cabinet". North Shore News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  23. ^ "News: North Vancouver-Seymour MLA proposes North Shore SkyTrain". Capilano Courier. November 15, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  24. ^ Richter, Brent. "North Vancouver MLA calls for North Shore SkyTrain". North Shore News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  25. ^ Bengtson, Ben. "Candidates spar in North Lonsdale". North Shore News. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  26. ^ "MLA wants law to target puppy mills". Times-Colonist. Jan 13, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  27. ^ "Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  28. ^ "Smyth: Victoria moving on tough new rules for commercial dog and cat breeders". The Province. November 16, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  29. ^ "New puppy mill law would give SPCA the 'teeth' to go after bad breeders". CBC News. February 18, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  30. ^ "B.C. adopts national standards for kennel and cattery operations, licensing could come next". CBC News. April 24, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
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