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Carole James
Carole Alison James (born December 22, 1957) is a Canadian politician and former public administrator, who represented Victoria-Beacon Hill in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP), she was the party's leader and Leader of the Opposition in British Columbia from 2005 to 2011. Following her resignation as leader, she stayed in politics and served as the 14th deputy premier of British Columbia and minister of finance under John Horgan, from 2017 to 2020.
James was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, and in Victoria, British Columbia. Her father was Métis but she grew up without him and did not learn about her Indigenous heritage until after completing high school.
After graduating from high school, James and her first husband worked in institutions for the developmentally disabled in Alberta and British Columbia. As a mother of young children, Alison and Evan, she became involved in a parents' group in Victoria, which led to her first foray into politics. In 2004, James married her long-time partner, Albert Gerow, a First Nations artist and former Burns Lake municipal councillor and Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. Gerow was the chief of the Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation in Burns Lake. James has been a foster parent for over twenty years.[citation needed]
On July 13, 2006, James announced publicly that she had been diagnosed with localized uterine endometrial cancer. She underwent surgery and radiation treatment and her prognosis is considered to be excellent. In March 2020, James announced that she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and did not run in the 2020 British Columbia general election.[citation needed]
James served on the Greater Victoria School Board from 1990 to 2001, including seven terms as chair, and gained a province-wide profile in her unprecedented five terms as president of the BC School Trustees Association. She also served at the national level as vice-president of the Canadian School Boards Association. From 1999 to 2001, James held the position of director of child care policy for the British Columbia government. In addition, she served on several local and provincial panels and committees.
In 2001, James ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill only losing by 35 votes to BC Liberal candidate Jeff Bray. She subsequently moved to Prince George, British Columbia, to serve as the director of child and family services for Carrier Sekani Family Services, and later as co-ordinator of the Northern Aboriginal Authority for Families.
James was elected leader of the provincial NDP on November 23, 2003. At the time of her election the party was suffering low morale in the wake of the 2001 provincial election, which had reduced the NDP to only two seats in the Legislative Assembly. During her campaign to win the party leadership, James pledged to modernize the NDP's ideology and internal structures and build a broader base of support for the party, a move which alienated some traditional supporters.
During the 2005 provincial election, James campaigned heavily on her name and image. On election night James and the NDP surprised many supporters and critics alike with a very strong electoral showing; the party winning 41.52 per cent of the popular vote (a 19.96 per cent increase from the 2001 election result) and 33 out of 79 seats in the Legislative Assembly. James won her seat in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill with 57.01 per cent of the vote, defeating the incumbent BC Liberal MLA Jeff Bray by an almost 2-1 margin. She was re-elected in 2009, 2013, and 2017.
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Carole James
Carole Alison James (born December 22, 1957) is a Canadian politician and former public administrator, who represented Victoria-Beacon Hill in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP), she was the party's leader and Leader of the Opposition in British Columbia from 2005 to 2011. Following her resignation as leader, she stayed in politics and served as the 14th deputy premier of British Columbia and minister of finance under John Horgan, from 2017 to 2020.
James was born in Dukinfield, Cheshire, England, and raised in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, and in Victoria, British Columbia. Her father was Métis but she grew up without him and did not learn about her Indigenous heritage until after completing high school.
After graduating from high school, James and her first husband worked in institutions for the developmentally disabled in Alberta and British Columbia. As a mother of young children, Alison and Evan, she became involved in a parents' group in Victoria, which led to her first foray into politics. In 2004, James married her long-time partner, Albert Gerow, a First Nations artist and former Burns Lake municipal councillor and Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. Gerow was the chief of the Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation in Burns Lake. James has been a foster parent for over twenty years.[citation needed]
On July 13, 2006, James announced publicly that she had been diagnosed with localized uterine endometrial cancer. She underwent surgery and radiation treatment and her prognosis is considered to be excellent. In March 2020, James announced that she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and did not run in the 2020 British Columbia general election.[citation needed]
James served on the Greater Victoria School Board from 1990 to 2001, including seven terms as chair, and gained a province-wide profile in her unprecedented five terms as president of the BC School Trustees Association. She also served at the national level as vice-president of the Canadian School Boards Association. From 1999 to 2001, James held the position of director of child care policy for the British Columbia government. In addition, she served on several local and provincial panels and committees.
In 2001, James ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill only losing by 35 votes to BC Liberal candidate Jeff Bray. She subsequently moved to Prince George, British Columbia, to serve as the director of child and family services for Carrier Sekani Family Services, and later as co-ordinator of the Northern Aboriginal Authority for Families.
James was elected leader of the provincial NDP on November 23, 2003. At the time of her election the party was suffering low morale in the wake of the 2001 provincial election, which had reduced the NDP to only two seats in the Legislative Assembly. During her campaign to win the party leadership, James pledged to modernize the NDP's ideology and internal structures and build a broader base of support for the party, a move which alienated some traditional supporters.
During the 2005 provincial election, James campaigned heavily on her name and image. On election night James and the NDP surprised many supporters and critics alike with a very strong electoral showing; the party winning 41.52 per cent of the popular vote (a 19.96 per cent increase from the 2001 election result) and 33 out of 79 seats in the Legislative Assembly. James won her seat in the riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill with 57.01 per cent of the vote, defeating the incumbent BC Liberal MLA Jeff Bray by an almost 2-1 margin. She was re-elected in 2009, 2013, and 2017.